## Problem 242

Let
$A=\begin{bmatrix} 1 & 2 & 2 \\ 2 &3 &2 \\ -1 & -3 & -4 \end{bmatrix} \text{ and } B=\begin{bmatrix} 1 & 2 & 2 \\ 2 &3 &2 \\ 5 & 3 & 3 \end{bmatrix}.$

Determine the null spaces of matrices $A$ and $B$.

## Problem 240

A nontrivial abelian group $A$ is called divisible if for each element $a\in A$ and each nonzero integer $k$, there is an element $x \in A$ such that $x^k=a$.
(Here the group operation of $A$ is written multiplicatively. In additive notation, the equation is written as $kx=a$.) That is, $A$ is divisible if each element has a $k$-th root in $A$.

(a) Prove that the additive group of rational numbers $\Q$ is divisible.

(b) Prove that no finite abelian group is divisible.

## Problem 239

Let $R$ be an integral domain. Then prove that the ideal $(x^3-y^2)$ is a prime ideal in the ring $R[x, y]$.

## Mathematics About the Number 2017

Happy New Year 2017!!

Here is the list of mathematical facts about the number 2017 that you can brag about to your friends or family as a math geek.

## Problem 237

Let $A$ be an $n \times n$ matrix. Suppose that all the eigenvalues $\lambda$ of $A$ are real and satisfy $\lambda <1$.

Then show that the determinant $\det(I-A) >0,$ where $I$ is the $n \times n$ identity matrix.

## Problem 236

Let $V$ denote the vector space of all real $n\times n$ matrices, where $n$ is a positive integer.

Determine whether the set $U$ of all $n\times n$ nilpotent matrices is a subspace of the vector space $V$ or not.

## Problem 235

Suppose that a real symmetric matrix $A$ has two distinct eigenvalues $\alpha$ and $\beta$.
Show that any eigenvector corresponding to $\alpha$ is orthogonal to any eigenvector corresponding to $\beta$.

(Nagoya University, Linear Algebra Final Exam Problem)

## Problem 234

Show that the polynomial
$f(x)=x^4-2x-1$ is irreducible over the field of rational numbers $\Q$.

## Problem 233

(a) Let $f_1(x)$ and $f_2(x)$ be irreducible polynomials over a finite field $\F_p$, where $p$ is a prime number. Suppose that $f_1(x)$ and $f_2(x)$ have the same degrees. Then show that fields $\F_p[x]/(f_1(x))$ and $\F_p[x]/(f_2(x))$ are isomorphic.

(b) Show that the polynomials $x^3-x+1$ and $x^3-x-1$ are both irreducible polynomials over the finite field $\F_3$.

(c) Exhibit an explicit isomorphism between the splitting fields of $x^3-x+1$ and $x^3-x-1$ over $\F_3$.

## Problem 232

Let $G$ be a group and let $H$ be a subgroup of finite index. Then show that there exists a normal subgroup $N$ of $G$ such that $N$ is of finite index in $G$ and $N\subset H$.

## Problem 231

Show that $\Q(\sqrt{2+\sqrt{2}})$ is a cyclic quartic field, that is, it is a Galois extension of degree $4$ with cyclic Galois group.

## Problem 230

Let $\Q$ be the field of rational numbers.

(a) Is the polynomial $f(x)=x^2-2$ separable over $\Q$?

(b) Find the Galois group of $f(x)$ over $\Q$.

## Problem 229

Let $p\in \Z$ be a prime number and let $\F_p$ be the field of $p$ elements.
For any nonzero element $a\in \F_p$, prove that the polynomial
$f(x)=x^p-x+a$ is irreducible and separable over $F_p$.

(Dummit and Foote “Abstract Algebra” Section 13.5 Exercise #5 on p.551)

## Problem 228

Let $R$ be a commutative ring with $1$. Show that if $R$ is an integral domain, then the characteristic of $R$ is either $0$ or a prime number $p$.

## Problem 227

Suppose that $G$ is a finite group of order $p^an$, where $p$ is a prime number and $p$ does not divide $n$.
Let $N$ be a normal subgroup of $G$ such that the index $|G: N|$ is relatively prime to $p$.

Then show that $N$ contains all $p$-Sylow subgroups of $G$.

## Problem 226

Let $G$ be a finite group. Suppose that $p$ is a prime number that divides the order of $G$.
Let $N$ be a normal subgroup of $G$ and let $P$ be a $p$-Sylow subgroup of $G$.
Show that if $P$ is normal in $N$, then $P$ is a normal subgroup of $G$.

## Problem 225

Show that a group $G$ is cyclic if and only if there exists a surjective group homomorphism from the additive group $\Z$ of integers to the group $G$.

## Problem 224

In the ring
$\Z[\sqrt{2}]=\{a+\sqrt{2}b \mid a, b \in \Z\},$ show that $5$ is a prime element but $7$ is not a prime element.

## Problem 223

Consider the ring
$\Z[\sqrt{10}]=\{a+b\sqrt{10} \mid a, b \in \Z\}$ and its ideal
$P=(2, \sqrt{10})=\{a+b\sqrt{10} \mid a, b \in \Z, 2|a\}.$ Show that $p$ is a prime ideal of the ring $\Z[\sqrt{10}]$.

## Problem 222

Suppose that $n\times n$ matrices $A$ and $B$ are similar.

Then show that the nullity of $A$ is equal to the nullity of $B$.
In other words, the dimension of the null space (kernel) $\calN(A)$ of $A$ is the same as the dimension of the null space $\calN(B)$ of $B$.