Dihedral group of order 8

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Dihedral group4 example.png
Dih4 as 2D point group, D4, [4], (*4•), order 4, with a 4-fold rotation and a mirror generator.
Dihedral group4 example2.png
Dih4 in 3D dihedral group D4, [4,2]+, (422), order 4, with a vertical 4-fold rotation generator order 4, and 2-fold horizontal generator

In mathematics, D4 (sometimes alternatively denoted by D8) is the dihedral group of degree 4 and order 8. It is the symmetry group of a square. [1] [2]

Contents

Symmetries of a square

As an example, consider a square of a certain thickness with the letter "F" written on it to make the different positions distinguishable. In order to describe its symmetry, one can form the set of all those rigid movements of the square that do not make a visible difference (except the "F"). For instance, if an object turned 90° clockwise still looks the same, the movement is one element of the set, for instance, . One could also flip it around a vertical axis so that its bottom surface becomes its top surface, while the left edge becomes the right edge. Again, after performing this movement, the square looks the same, so this is also an element of our set, which is called it . The movement that does nothing is denoted by .

Square symmetry - I.png
The square's initial position
(the identity transformation)
Square symmetry - R1.png
Rotation by 90° anticlockwise
Square symmetry - R2.png
Rotation by 180°
Square symmetry - R3.png
Rotation by 270°
Square symmetry - D1.png
Diagonal NW–SE reflection
Square symmetry - H.png
Horizontal reflection
Square symmetry - D2.png
Diagonal NE–SW reflection
Square symmetry - V.png
Vertical reflection

Generating the group

With composition as the operation, the set of all those movements forms a group. This group is the most concise description of the square's symmetry. Applying two symmetry transformations in succession yields a symmetry transformation. For instance aa, also written as a2, is a 180° degree turn. a3 is a 270° clockwise rotation (or a 90° counter-clockwise rotation). We also see that b2 = e and also a4 = e. A horizontal flip followed by a rotation, ab is the same as ba3. Also, a2b is a vertical flip and is equal to ba2.

The two elements a and b generate the group, because all of the group's elements can be written as products of powers of a and b.

Cycle graph of Dih4
a is the clockwise rotation
and b the horizontal reflection. Dih4 cycle graph.svg
Cycle graph of Dih4
a is the clockwise rotation
and b the horizontal reflection.
Cayley graph of Dih4 Dih 4 Cayley Graph; generators a, b.svg
Cayley graph of Dih4
A different Cayley graph of Dih4, generated by the horizontal reflection b and a diagonal reflection c Dih 4 Cayley Graph; generators b, c.svg
A different Cayley graph of Dih4, generated by the horizontal reflection b and a diagonal reflection c

This group of order 8 has the following Cayley table:

ebaa2a3aba2ba3b
eebaa2a3aba2ba3b
bbea3ba2baba3a2a
aaaba2a3ea2ba3bb
a2a2a2ba3eaa3bbab
a3a3a3beaa2baba2b
abababa3ba2bea3a2
a2ba2ba2abba3baea3
a3ba3ba3a2babba2ae

For any two elements in the group, the table records what their composition is. Here we wrote "a3b" as a shorthand for a3b. This group has 5 conjugacy classes, they are .

In mathematics this group is known as the dihedral group of order 8, and is either denoted Dih4, D4 or D8, depending on the convention. This is an example of a non-abelian group: the operation here is not commutative, which can be seen from the table; the table is not symmetrical about the main diagonal.

There are five different groups of order 8. Three of them are abelian: the cyclic group C8 and the direct products of cyclic groups C4×C2 and C2×C2×C2. The other two, the dihedral group of order 8 and the quaternion group, are not. [3]

Permutation representation

The dihedral group of order 8 is isomorphic to the permutation group generated by (1234) and (13). The numbers in this table come from numbering the 4! = 24 permutations of S4, which Dih4 is a subgroup of, from 0 (shown as a black circle) to 23. Dihedral group of order 8; Cayley table (element orders 1,2,2,4,2,2,4,2); subgroup of S4.svg
The dihedral group of order 8 is isomorphic to the permutation group generated by (1234) and (13). The numbers in this table come from numbering the 4! = 24 permutations of S4, which Dih4 is a subgroup of, from 0 (shown as a black circle) to 23.

The action of a rotation or diagonal reflection on the corners of a square, numbered consecutively, can be obtained by the two permutations (1234) and (13), respectively. As the positions of all four corners uniquely determine the element of the symmetries of the square used to obtain those positions, and so the group of symmetries of a square is isomorphic to the permutation group generated by (1234) and (13).

Matrix representation

The symmetries of an axis-aligned square centered at the origin can be represented by signed permutation matrices, acting on the plane by multiplication on column vectors of coordinates . The identity transformation is represented by the identity matrix . Reflections across a horizontal and vertical axis are represented by the two matrices and , respectively, and the two diagonal reflections are represented by the matrices and . Rotations clockwise by 90°, 180°, and 270° are represented by the matrices , , and , respectively. The group composition operation is represented as matrix multiplication. Larger signed permutation matrices represent in the same way the hyperoctahedral groups, the groups of symmetries of higher dimensional cubes, octahedra, hypercubes, and cross polytopes. [4]

Subgroups

Subgroups of D4 Dih4 subgroups.svg
Subgroups of D4

D4 has three subgroups of order four, one consisting of its two non-involutory elements and their square (that is, its rotations, for the group's action on a square) and two more generated by two perpendicular reflections.

Each reflection generates an order-two subgroup, and there is one more order-two subgroup generated by the central symmetry (the square of the non-involutory elements).

Normal subgroups

There are four proper non-trivial normal subgroups: The two order-four subgroups are normal, as is the group generated by the central symmetry.

This version of the Cayley table shows one of these normal subgroups, shown with a red background. In this table r means rotations, and f means flips. Because this subgroup is normal, the left coset is the same as the right coset.

Group table of D4
er1r2r3fvfhfdfc
eer1r2r3fvfhfdfc
r1r1r2r3efcfdfvfh
r2r2r3er1fhfvfcfd
r3r3er1r2fdfcfhfv
fvfvfdfhfcer2r1r3
fhfhfcfvfdr2er3r1
fdfdfhfcfvr3r1er2
fcfcfvfdfhr1r3r2e
The elements e, r1, r2, and r3 form a subgroup, highlighted in   red (upper left region). A left and right coset of this subgroup is highlighted in   green (in the last row) and   yellow (last column), respectively.

See also

References

  1. Johnston, Bernard L.; Richman, Fred (1997). Numbers and Symmetry: An Introduction to Algebra. CRC Press. p. 92. ISBN   9780849303012.
  2. Cameron, Peter Jephson (1998). Introduction to Algebra. Oxford University Press. p. 100. ISBN   9780198501954.
  3. Humphreys, J. F. (1996). A Course in Group Theory. Oxford University Press. p. 47. ISBN   9780198534594.
  4. Estévez, Manuel; Roldán, Érika; Segerman, Henry (2023). "Surfaces in the tesseract". In Holdener, Judy; Torrence, Eve; Fong, Chamberlain; Seaton, Katherine (eds.). Proceedings of Bridges 2023: Mathematics, Art, Music, Architecture, Culture. Phoenix, Arizona: Tessellations Publishing. pp. 441–444. arXiv: 2311.06596 . ISBN   978-1-938664-45-8.