## Problem 209

Let $G$ be a group. We fix an element $x$ of $G$ and define a map
$\Psi_x: G\to G$ by mapping $g\in G$ to $xgx^{-1} \in G$.
Then prove the followings.
(a) The map $\Psi_x$ is a group homomorphism.

(b) The map $\Psi_x=\id$ if and only if $x\in Z(G)$, where $Z(G)$ is the center of the group $G$.

(c) The map $\Psi_y=\id$ for all $y\in G$ if and only if $G$ is an abelian group.

## Problem 208

Let $G, G’$ be groups and let $f:G \to G’$ be a group homomorphism.
Put $N=\ker(f)$. Then show that we have
$f^{-1}(f(H))=HN.$

## Problem 207

Let $G$ be a group. Define a map $f:G \to G$ by sending each element $g \in G$ to its inverse $g^{-1} \in G$.
Show that $G$ is an abelian group if and only if the map $f: G\to G$ is a group homomorphism.

## Problem 206

Determine all eigenvalues and their algebraic multiplicities of the matrix
$A=\begin{bmatrix} 1 & a & 1 \\ a &1 &a \\ 1 & a & 1 \end{bmatrix},$ where $a$ is a real number.

## Problem 205

Let $G$ be an abelian group with the identity element $1$. Let $a, b$ be elements of $G$ with order $m$ and $n$, respectively.
If $m$ and $n$ are relatively prime, then show that the order of the element $ab$ is $mn$.

## Problem 204

Is there a (not necessarily commutative) ring $R$ with $1$ such that the equation
$x+x=1$ has more than one solutions $x\in R$?

## Problem 203

Let $R$ be a commutative ring. Let $S$ be a subset of $R$ and let $I$ be an ideal of $I$.
We define the subset
$(I:S):=\{ a \in R \mid aS\subset I\}.$ Prove that $(I:S)$ is an ideal of $R$. This ideal is called the ideal quotient, or colon ideal.

## Problem 202

Show that eigenvalues of a Hermitian matrix $A$ are real numbers.

(The Ohio State University Linear Algebra Exam Problem)

## Problem 201

Let $C[-\pi, \pi]$ be the vector space of all continuous functions defined on the interval $[-\pi, \pi]$.

Show that the subset $\{\cos(x), \sin(x)\}$ in $C[-\pi, \pi]$ is linearly independent.

## Problem 200

Let
$A=\begin{bmatrix} 5 & 2 & -1 \\ 2 &2 &2 \\ -1 & 2 & 5 \end{bmatrix}.$

Pick your favorite number $a$. Find the dimension of the null space of the matrix $A-aI$, where $I$ is the $3\times 3$ identity matrix.

Your score of this problem is equal to that dimension times five.

(The Ohio State University Linear Algebra Practice Problem)

## Problem 199

Let $R$ be the ring of all continuous functions on the interval $[0,1]$.
Let $I$ be the set of functions $f(x)$ in $R$ such that $f(1/2)=f(1/3)=0$.

Show that the set $I$ is an ideal of $R$ but is not a prime ideal.

## Problem 198

Let $R$ be a commutative ring with $1$. Prove that the principal ideal $(x)$ generated by the element $x$ in the polynomial ring $R[x]$ is a prime ideal if and only if $R$ is an integral domain.

Prove also that the ideal $(x)$ is a maximal ideal if and only if $R$ is a field.

## Problem 197

Let $R$ be a ring with unit $1\neq 0$.

Prove that if $M$ is an ideal of $R$ such that $R/M$ is a field, then $M$ is a maximal ideal of $R$.
(Do not assume that the ring $R$ is commutative.)

## Problem 196

Let $G$ be a group. Assume that $H$ and $K$ are both normal subgroups of $G$ and $H \cap K=1$. Then for any elements $h \in H$ and $k\in K$, show that $hk=kh$.

## Problem 195

Let $G$ be a group and let $A$ be an abelian subgroup of $G$ with $A \triangleleft G$.
(That is, $A$ is a normal subgroup of $G$.)

If $B$ is any subgroup of $G$, then show that
$A \cap B \triangleleft AB.$

## Problem 194

Find the value(s) of $h$ for which the following set of vectors
$\left \{ \mathbf{v}_1=\begin{bmatrix} 1 \\ 0 \\ 0 \end{bmatrix}, \mathbf{v}_2=\begin{bmatrix} h \\ 1 \\ -h \end{bmatrix}, \mathbf{v}_3=\begin{bmatrix} 1 \\ 2h \\ 3h+1 \end{bmatrix}\right\}$ is linearly independent.

(Boston College, Linear Algebra Midterm Exam Sample Problem)

## Problem 193

Let $A$ be a $3 \times 3$ matrix.
Let $\mathbf{x}, \mathbf{y}, \mathbf{z}$ are linearly independent $3$-dimensional vectors. Suppose that we have
$A\mathbf{x}=\begin{bmatrix} 1 \\ 0 \\ 1 \end{bmatrix}, A\mathbf{y}=\begin{bmatrix} 0 \\ 1 \\ 0 \end{bmatrix}, A\mathbf{z}=\begin{bmatrix} 1 \\ 1 \\ 1 \end{bmatrix}.$

Then find the value of the determinant of the matrix $A$.

## Problem 192

Show that any finite integral domain $R$ is a field.

## Problem 191

Let
$A=\begin{bmatrix} 1 & -1\\ 2& 3 \end{bmatrix}.$

Find the eigenvalues and the eigenvectors of the matrix
$B=A^4-3A^3+3A^2-2A+8E.$

(Nagoya University Linear Algebra Exam Problem)

$A=\begin{bmatrix} 1 & 1.00001 & 1 \\ 1.00001 &1 &1.00001 \\ 1 & 1.00001 & 1 \end{bmatrix}$ has one positive eigenvalue and one negative eigenvalue.