Is a function that preserves normal subgroups a group morphism?

The name of the pictureThe name of the pictureThe name of the pictureClash Royale CLAN TAG#URR8PPP











up vote
1
down vote

favorite












Proposition 2.10.4 in Michael Artin's Algebra says that the inverse image of a normal subgroup under a group morphism is a normal subgroup (of the morphism's domain, of course)



Motivated by analogy with topology, my question is then if the converse implication holds: given a function between groups such that inverse images of normal subgroups are always normal, is such a function in fact a group morphism?










share|cite|improve this question

























    up vote
    1
    down vote

    favorite












    Proposition 2.10.4 in Michael Artin's Algebra says that the inverse image of a normal subgroup under a group morphism is a normal subgroup (of the morphism's domain, of course)



    Motivated by analogy with topology, my question is then if the converse implication holds: given a function between groups such that inverse images of normal subgroups are always normal, is such a function in fact a group morphism?










    share|cite|improve this question























      up vote
      1
      down vote

      favorite









      up vote
      1
      down vote

      favorite











      Proposition 2.10.4 in Michael Artin's Algebra says that the inverse image of a normal subgroup under a group morphism is a normal subgroup (of the morphism's domain, of course)



      Motivated by analogy with topology, my question is then if the converse implication holds: given a function between groups such that inverse images of normal subgroups are always normal, is such a function in fact a group morphism?










      share|cite|improve this question













      Proposition 2.10.4 in Michael Artin's Algebra says that the inverse image of a normal subgroup under a group morphism is a normal subgroup (of the morphism's domain, of course)



      Motivated by analogy with topology, my question is then if the converse implication holds: given a function between groups such that inverse images of normal subgroups are always normal, is such a function in fact a group morphism?







      abstract-algebra group-theory






      share|cite|improve this question













      share|cite|improve this question











      share|cite|improve this question




      share|cite|improve this question










      asked 1 hour ago









      alkchf

      40836




      40836




















          1 Answer
          1






          active

          oldest

          votes

















          up vote
          5
          down vote



          accepted










          No, and here is a silly reason: there are many groups whose only normal subgroups are the trivial group $1$ and the entire group! Such groups are called simple. Basic examples include the cyclic groups $C_p$ for primes $p$, and the alternating groups $A_n$ for $n neq 4$. If you take any two big simple groups $G, G'$, and any mapping $f: G to G'$ such that $f(a) = 1 iff a = 1$, then $f$ will satisfy your requirements. Obviously $f$ can still be a very weird function then; certainly it will not need to be a group homomorphism.






          share|cite|improve this answer




















          • I think you also need $f$ to be bijective for your example to work.
            – C Monsour
            37 mins ago










          • @CMonsour, no, this is not necessary. Note that we are talking about inverse images under $f$, not images. So e.g. the mapping $f: A_5 to A_5$ defined by $f(mathrmid) = mathrmid$ and $f(alpha) = (1, 2)$ when $alpha neq mathrmid$ is an example.
            – Mees de Vries
            35 mins ago










          Your Answer




          StackExchange.ifUsing("editor", function ()
          return StackExchange.using("mathjaxEditing", function ()
          StackExchange.MarkdownEditor.creationCallbacks.add(function (editor, postfix)
          StackExchange.mathjaxEditing.prepareWmdForMathJax(editor, postfix, [["$", "$"], ["\\(","\\)"]]);
          );
          );
          , "mathjax-editing");

          StackExchange.ready(function()
          var channelOptions =
          tags: "".split(" "),
          id: "69"
          ;
          initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);

          StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function()
          // Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
          if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled)
          StackExchange.using("snippets", function()
          createEditor();
          );

          else
          createEditor();

          );

          function createEditor()
          StackExchange.prepareEditor(
          heartbeatType: 'answer',
          convertImagesToLinks: true,
          noModals: false,
          showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
          reputationToPostImages: 10,
          bindNavPrevention: true,
          postfix: "",
          noCode: true, onDemand: true,
          discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
          ,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
          );



          );













           

          draft saved


          draft discarded


















          StackExchange.ready(
          function ()
          StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fmath.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f2938052%2fis-a-function-that-preserves-normal-subgroups-a-group-morphism%23new-answer', 'question_page');

          );

          Post as a guest






























          1 Answer
          1






          active

          oldest

          votes








          1 Answer
          1






          active

          oldest

          votes









          active

          oldest

          votes






          active

          oldest

          votes








          up vote
          5
          down vote



          accepted










          No, and here is a silly reason: there are many groups whose only normal subgroups are the trivial group $1$ and the entire group! Such groups are called simple. Basic examples include the cyclic groups $C_p$ for primes $p$, and the alternating groups $A_n$ for $n neq 4$. If you take any two big simple groups $G, G'$, and any mapping $f: G to G'$ such that $f(a) = 1 iff a = 1$, then $f$ will satisfy your requirements. Obviously $f$ can still be a very weird function then; certainly it will not need to be a group homomorphism.






          share|cite|improve this answer




















          • I think you also need $f$ to be bijective for your example to work.
            – C Monsour
            37 mins ago










          • @CMonsour, no, this is not necessary. Note that we are talking about inverse images under $f$, not images. So e.g. the mapping $f: A_5 to A_5$ defined by $f(mathrmid) = mathrmid$ and $f(alpha) = (1, 2)$ when $alpha neq mathrmid$ is an example.
            – Mees de Vries
            35 mins ago














          up vote
          5
          down vote



          accepted










          No, and here is a silly reason: there are many groups whose only normal subgroups are the trivial group $1$ and the entire group! Such groups are called simple. Basic examples include the cyclic groups $C_p$ for primes $p$, and the alternating groups $A_n$ for $n neq 4$. If you take any two big simple groups $G, G'$, and any mapping $f: G to G'$ such that $f(a) = 1 iff a = 1$, then $f$ will satisfy your requirements. Obviously $f$ can still be a very weird function then; certainly it will not need to be a group homomorphism.






          share|cite|improve this answer




















          • I think you also need $f$ to be bijective for your example to work.
            – C Monsour
            37 mins ago










          • @CMonsour, no, this is not necessary. Note that we are talking about inverse images under $f$, not images. So e.g. the mapping $f: A_5 to A_5$ defined by $f(mathrmid) = mathrmid$ and $f(alpha) = (1, 2)$ when $alpha neq mathrmid$ is an example.
            – Mees de Vries
            35 mins ago












          up vote
          5
          down vote



          accepted







          up vote
          5
          down vote



          accepted






          No, and here is a silly reason: there are many groups whose only normal subgroups are the trivial group $1$ and the entire group! Such groups are called simple. Basic examples include the cyclic groups $C_p$ for primes $p$, and the alternating groups $A_n$ for $n neq 4$. If you take any two big simple groups $G, G'$, and any mapping $f: G to G'$ such that $f(a) = 1 iff a = 1$, then $f$ will satisfy your requirements. Obviously $f$ can still be a very weird function then; certainly it will not need to be a group homomorphism.






          share|cite|improve this answer












          No, and here is a silly reason: there are many groups whose only normal subgroups are the trivial group $1$ and the entire group! Such groups are called simple. Basic examples include the cyclic groups $C_p$ for primes $p$, and the alternating groups $A_n$ for $n neq 4$. If you take any two big simple groups $G, G'$, and any mapping $f: G to G'$ such that $f(a) = 1 iff a = 1$, then $f$ will satisfy your requirements. Obviously $f$ can still be a very weird function then; certainly it will not need to be a group homomorphism.







          share|cite|improve this answer












          share|cite|improve this answer



          share|cite|improve this answer










          answered 1 hour ago









          Mees de Vries

          14.9k12450




          14.9k12450











          • I think you also need $f$ to be bijective for your example to work.
            – C Monsour
            37 mins ago










          • @CMonsour, no, this is not necessary. Note that we are talking about inverse images under $f$, not images. So e.g. the mapping $f: A_5 to A_5$ defined by $f(mathrmid) = mathrmid$ and $f(alpha) = (1, 2)$ when $alpha neq mathrmid$ is an example.
            – Mees de Vries
            35 mins ago
















          • I think you also need $f$ to be bijective for your example to work.
            – C Monsour
            37 mins ago










          • @CMonsour, no, this is not necessary. Note that we are talking about inverse images under $f$, not images. So e.g. the mapping $f: A_5 to A_5$ defined by $f(mathrmid) = mathrmid$ and $f(alpha) = (1, 2)$ when $alpha neq mathrmid$ is an example.
            – Mees de Vries
            35 mins ago















          I think you also need $f$ to be bijective for your example to work.
          – C Monsour
          37 mins ago




          I think you also need $f$ to be bijective for your example to work.
          – C Monsour
          37 mins ago












          @CMonsour, no, this is not necessary. Note that we are talking about inverse images under $f$, not images. So e.g. the mapping $f: A_5 to A_5$ defined by $f(mathrmid) = mathrmid$ and $f(alpha) = (1, 2)$ when $alpha neq mathrmid$ is an example.
          – Mees de Vries
          35 mins ago




          @CMonsour, no, this is not necessary. Note that we are talking about inverse images under $f$, not images. So e.g. the mapping $f: A_5 to A_5$ defined by $f(mathrmid) = mathrmid$ and $f(alpha) = (1, 2)$ when $alpha neq mathrmid$ is an example.
          – Mees de Vries
          35 mins ago

















           

          draft saved


          draft discarded















































           


          draft saved


          draft discarded














          StackExchange.ready(
          function ()
          StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fmath.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f2938052%2fis-a-function-that-preserves-normal-subgroups-a-group-morphism%23new-answer', 'question_page');

          );

          Post as a guest













































































          Comments

          Popular posts from this blog

          Long meetings (6-7 hours a day): Being “babysat” by supervisor

          Is the Concept of Multiple Fantasy Races Scientifically Flawed? [closed]

          Confectionery