# Tagged: dihedral group

## Problem 54

Determine all the conjugacy classes of the dihedral group
$D_{8}=\langle r,s \mid r^4=s^2=1, sr=r^{-1}s\rangle$ of order $8$.

## Problem 53

Let $D_8$ be the dihedral group of order $8$.
Using the generators and relations, we have
$D_{8}=\langle r,s \mid r^4=s^2=1, sr=r^{-1}s\rangle.$

(a) Let $A$ be the subgroup of $D_8$ generated by $r$, that is, $A=\{1,r,r^2,r^3\}$.
Prove that the centralizer $C_{D_8}(A)=A$.

(b) Show that the normalizer $N_{D_8}(A)=D_8$.

(c) Show that the center $Z(D_8)=\langle r^2 \rangle=\{1,r^2\}$, the subgroup generated by $r^2$.

## Problem 52

Let $n$ be a positive integer. Let $D_{2n}$ be the dihedral group of order $2n$. Using the generators and the relations, the dihedral group $D_{2n}$ is given by
$D_{2n}=\langle r,s \mid r^n=s^2=1, sr=r^{-1}s\rangle.$ Put $\theta=2 \pi/n$.

(a) Prove that the matrix $\begin{bmatrix} \cos \theta & -\sin \theta\\ \sin \theta& \cos \theta \end{bmatrix}$ is the matrix representation of the linear transformation $T$ which rotates the $x$-$y$ plane about the origin in a counterclockwise direction by $\theta$ radians.

(b) Let $\GL_2(\R)$ be the group of all $2 \times 2$ invertible matrices with real entries. Show that the map $\rho: D_{2n} \to \GL_2(\R)$ defined on the generators by
$\rho(r)=\begin{bmatrix} \cos \theta & -\sin \theta\\ \sin \theta& \cos \theta \end{bmatrix} \text{ and } \rho(s)=\begin{bmatrix} 0 & 1\\ 1& 0 \end{bmatrix}$ extends to a homomorphism of $D_{2n}$ into $\GL_2(\R)$.

(c) Determine whether the homomorphism $\rho$ in part (b) is injective and/or surjective.