Normal subgroup
- Page ID
- 19065
A subgroup H of a group G is normal in G (H \(\triangleleft\) G) if gH = Hg for any g ∈G. Equivalently, H ⊂ G is normal if and only if gHg-1= H for any g ∈G, i.e., if and only if each conjugacy class of G is either entirely inside H or entirely outside H. This is equivalent to say that H is invariant under all inner automorphisms of G.
The property gH = Hg means that left and rights cosets of H in G coincide. From this one sees that the cosets form a group with the operation g1H * g2H = g1g2H which is called the factor group or quotient group of G by H, denoted by G/H.
In the special case that a subgroup H has only two cosets in G (namely H and gH for some g not contained in H), the subgroup H is always normal in G.