Artem Avilov

What algebra studies — algebraic structures. Groups (definition, examples, additive notation, uniqueness of the identity and of inverses), rings (variants of the axioms, rings with and without identity), fields and division rings, vector spaces and modules, algebras over a field. The symmetric group $S_n$ — permutations, non-commutativity, two-row notation, cycles and transpositions, decomposition into transpositions, disjoint permutations commute, decomposition into disjoint cycles and its uniqueness, powers, inversions, parity and the sign of a permutation, multiplying by a transposition changes the sign.

Problems for seminar 1 of the course "Algebra 1" (A. A. Avilov, Independent University of Moscow, autumn 2026), 7 September 2026 — groups, normal subgroups and quotients, the symmetric group. Classification of groups of order 3, 4, 6, 10; groups in which every element has order 2; generators and relations for $D_n$; finite generation of $\mathbb{Q}$ and $\mathbb{Q}^*$; the centre, subgroups and normal subgroups of $D_n$; direct sums; the Chinese remainder theorem; cycles and cycle types in $S_6$, orders of elements of $S_{10}$; generators of $S_n$; inner automorphisms; automorphism groups of $\mathbb{Z}$, $\mathbb{Z}/n\mathbb{Z}$, $S_3$, $S_4$.

Problems for seminar 2 of the course "Algebra 1" (A. A. Avilov, Independent University of Moscow, autumn 2026), 14 September 2026 — group homomorphisms, the homomorphism theorem, conjugate elements, group actions. The group $\operatorname{Hom}(A, B)$ of abelian groups; multiplicativity of the index; the third isomorphism theorem; isomorphic subgroups with non-isomorphic quotients; conjugacy in $S_n$ and cycle type; conjugacy classes of $A_5$; $\operatorname{Aut}(S_n) = S_n$ for $n \ne 6$; the rotation and symmetry groups of the cube; a homomorphism $S_4 \to S_3$; the symmetry group of the icosahedron; the automorphism group of the Petersen graph.

The order of an element and of a group, the order of a permutation as the lcm of its cycle lengths; generators and cyclic groups; homomorphisms and isomorphisms of groups, the classification of cyclic groups; examples — the sign of a permutation, inversion in an abelian group, the exponential, the determinant, $S_3$ and $D_3$; subgroups, kernel and image, the injectivity criterion; left and right cosets and the partition into them; normal subgroups and conjugation, the index, Lagrange's theorem, subgroups of index 2; the quotient group; the homomorphism theorem with examples; conjugate elements, the centre, a group action on a set.