PERMUTATIONS

In crude sense, permutations are arrangements of objects in various orders and forms. In terms of
sets and functions, permutations are bijective mappings on non-empty sets. The main interest of
the mathematical society is to deal with the permutations on finite sets as those are more
effectively employed to deal with the problems related to finite dimensional objects and their
transformations as well as their properties. Studies of symmetries of geometrical objects may be
particularly cited in this case. Here we first give the formal definition of a permutation on finite
sets and then we will discuss on various important and relevant topics related to it. Finally we
establish that the set of all the permutations on a finite set forms a group under the operation of
composition of mappings.

Groups containing permutations are known as permutation groups. These groups are very useful
in the study of finite groups. This is because of the fact that every finite group is isomorphic
(structurally same) to a permutation group. So, the study of permutations and permutation groups
invites more attention of the mathematicians dealing with finite group theory.

Definition 1. If S is a non-empty finite set having n elements, then a bijective or a one-one and
onto mapping is called a permutation of degree n on S.

Remarks:

1. The degree of permutation is nothing but the number of elements in the underlined finite
set, known as the set of symbols or symbol set, on which the permutations are defined.
2. We have a total number of functions on a set S having n distinct elements. Out of
these functions, only the bijective mappings on S are the permutations on S.

Notation for a permutation

Let * + is a finite set having n-distinct elements and is a

bijective mapping on S such that ( ) where * +.
Then, by definition, is a permutation of degree n on S. This permutation is generally
denoted by the symbol

. /

In the above convention of two row notation for a permutation, we observe that each element in
the second row is the f-image of the element in the first row just lying directly above it.

For example, by the permutation . /, we generally understand the one-one and onto
function * + * + such that ( ) ( ) ( )
Remarks: A permutation represented in a two-row symbolism may be written in many different
ways. For, if we interchange the positions of two columns in a particular permutation without
changing their entries, those interchanges don’t affect in the rule of the bijective mapping giving
the permutation. Therefore, the permutation and the permutation obtained after interchanges of
columns will represent the same permutation. Thus, though the appearances of the permutations
given below seem different, they represent the same permutation as they are representing the
same functional rule: only.

. / . / . / . / . / . /

Equality of permutations

Definition 2. Two permutations and of degree n on the same symbol set S are said to be
equal if we have that ( ) ( ) That is, two permutations and on the same
symbol set S are equal if they are equal as functions on S. In this case we usually write

For example, . /, . / are two equal permutations of

degree 5. Further the six permutations mentioned in the above remark are all equal.

Note: The only difference, if there exists, there may arise between two equal permutations is the
difference in the column positions.

Identity permutation

Definition 3. If a permutation I of degree n on S is such that I replaces each element of S by the

element itself, then I is called the identity permutation of degree n. That is, the identity
permutation of degree n on S is the identity mapping on S.

In other words, if both the rows of a permutation are identical, then the permutation is an identity
permutation.

For example, . / or ( ) . / are

identity permutations of degree n.

Total number of distinct permutations of degree n

Let * + and . / be a permutation of degree n on

S. It is easy to see that by fixing the elements in the first row of f and arranging the elements in
the second row by changing their orders, we get different permutations. The n distinct elements
in the second row can be arranged in n! distinct ways and hence we get n! distinct permutations
on the set S. Thus from a set having 2 distinct elements we will get 2!=2 and from a set having 3
distinct elements we will get 3!=6 distinct permutations etc.
The symmetric set of permutations

The set of all the n! distinct permutations of degree n on a finite set S having n distinct elements
is denoted by and is called the symmetric set of permutations of degree n. Thus
denotes the symmetric set of all the permutations of degree 3. Clearly contains 3!= 6 distinct
elements. Similarly is the symmetric set of permutations of degree 4 having 4!= 24 elements.

Product of permutations

We have seen that every permutation is a bijective mapping. We also know that the composition
of two bijective mappings on S is again a bijective mapping. So, it immediately follows that the
composition of two permutations of degree n on S is again a permutation of degree n on S.
Therefore, with the help of composition of mappings we can naturally define the product of two
permutations and of the same degree n, denoted as by

In other words, the product of two permutations and of the same degree n is obtained by
first carrying out the operation defined by f and then by .

For example, if . /, . /, then by definition

. /. / . /

And . /. / . /

Here we notice that .

Remarks:

1. If we have to find the product then it is customary to express the permutation in

such a way that its first row coincides with the second row of so that one can
immediately and easily find the images under . After expressing the second
permutation in this way, without following other mechanical ways one can easily write
the product by taking the first row of as the first row of and the second row of
as the second row of .

Thus . /. /

. /. / . /

2. Product or multiplication of permutations is not necessarily commutative. That is, it is not

necessary that .
Inverse of a permutation

If is a permutation of degree n on a set of symbols S, then is a bijective mapping on S. We

know that a bijective mapping always possesses a unique inverse mapping and that the inverse is
also a bijective mapping. So, if is the inverse of the permutation of degree n on S, then
is also a bijective mapping on S and hence is a permutation of degree n on S. This inverse
mapping of is defined as the inverse of the permutation .

Thus if . /, then its inverse is . /.

Note: One can very easily find the inverse of a permutation just by interchanging its rows. That
is, in general, the inverse of the permutation . / is( ).

Thus the inverse of . / is. / . /.

The Symmetric groups of permutations

Theorem1: The symmetric set of all permutations on n symbols is a finite group of order n!
with respect to composition of mappings as the binary operation. For , this group is
Abelian and for , the group is always non-Abelian.

Proof: Let * + be a finite set having n-distinct elements and

* | +.

Here we notice that to have bijective mappings from S onto itself, we can associate the elements
in ways respectively and hence by fundamental principle
of counting, we will have ( )( ) distinct bijective mappings from S
onto itself, i.e., distinct permutations of degree n on S. Thus, the symmetric set contains
n! distinct elements.

Now we show that is a group under the composition of mappings as the binary operation.

Closure property:

We have,
Therefore is closed under the operation of composition of mappings.

Associativity:

We know that composition of mappings is always an associative operation. Therefore,

( ) ( )

Now ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ), -

( ) ( )

Associativity can also be established alternatively as follows:

Let . / ( ) . /

Now, ( ) . / [( ) . /]

. /( )

. /

And ( ) [. /( )] . /

. / . /

. / ( )

Therefore the composition is associative.

Existence of Identity:

Let . / be arbitrary.

Now we have the identity permutation . / ( )

Again . /( ) . /

And . /. / . /
Thus

Hence . / ( ) is the identity element.

Existence of Inverse:

Let . / be arbitrary. Then, ( ) and

. /( ) . /

Further ( ). / ( )

Hence ( ) is the inverse of . /

Thus is a group of order n! under the composition of mappings as the binary operation.

Finally, for , this symmetric group is of orders 1 and 2 respectively. Since groups of
order 1 and 2 are always Abelian, so and are Abelian.

We now prove that is non-Abelian for

Let . / . /

Then, . / . /

So, is non-Abelian for

Note: The structure of a symmetric set and number of elements in it depend only on the
number of elements in the symbol set S. So, it is immaterial whatever symbol we use to form
permutations. The only important thing is the number of symbols in the symbol set. Thus we
may use or or any n-distinct symbols to form .

Cyclic Permutations

Definition 4. Let be a permutation of degree on a set S having n distinct symbols. If it is

possible to arrange ( ) elements of the set S in a row in such a way that the -image of each
element in the row, except the last element, is the element which follows it, the -image of the
last element in the row is the first element and the remaining ( ) elements of the set which
are not appearing in the row are left unchanged by then is called a cyclic permutation or a
cycle of length m or simply an m-cycle.
For example, consider the permutation . / of degree 6. This
permutation can be represented by the cycle( ). For, from the 4-cycle( ), by
the definition of a cyclic permutation, the permutation f can easily be written by the rule that the
-image of 1 is 3, the -image of 3 is 2, the -image of 2 is 4, the -image of 4 is 1 and the
remaining 2 symbols 5 and 6 are left unchanged by f.

Similarly, the permutation . / can be represented by the cycle( )

But the permutation . / cannot be represented by a cycle or not cyclic.

Disjoint cycles

Two cyclic permutations or cycles are said to be disjoint if they have no symbol in common.

For example, (1 2 4 3) and (5 7 6) are disjoint cycles while (1 3 4 5) and (4 7 6 2) are not
disjoint cycles.

An important note: If two cycles of same length containing the same symbols are such that they
look different as rows, but they maintain the same cyclic order, then they represent the same
cycle. For example ( )( ) ( ) represent the same cycle. This
is evident if we represent them as permutations of two-rowed symbols.

Multiplication or product of cycles

As a cycle represents a permutation, the product of two cycles is nothing but the product of the
permutations represented by the cycles.

For example, the product of the cycles ( ) ( ) is

( )( ) . /. /

. /

And ( )( ) . /. /

. /

Remarks: One can easily find the product of two cycles without expressing the cycles into two-
rowed form. For this purpose we first consider the first element of the first cycle. By definition
of cycles its image is the second element in the first cycle. Now we find the image of this second
element in the second cycle. The image found in this way is the image of the first element of the
first cycle. Then we find the image of the image of first element in the same process and
proceeding in the same way we get the product of the cycles easily.

For example, consider the product( )( ). Here the image of 6 in first cycle is
2 and that of 2 in the second cycle is 4. Hence the image of 6 in the product is 4. Now we find
the image of 4 in the product. Here, the image of 4 in the first cycle is 3 and that of 3 in the
second cycle is 5. Therefore, the image of 4 in the product is 5. Then we see that the symbol 5 is
absent in the first cycle. So, its image in the first cycle is 5 by the convention of a cycle. Again
the image of 5 in the second cycle is 2 and hence the image of 5 in the product is 2. Proceeding
in this way we will easily find that the image of 2 is1, the image of 1 is 3 and the image of 3 is 6
in the product. Thus we get the product as. / ( ).

Note: For the product of disjoint cycles we have the following important theorem.

Theorem 2: If two disjoint cycles, then i.e., the product of disjoint cycles
is commutative.

Proof: We have,

So, it follows that the symbols permuted by f are left unchanged by g and also the symbols
permuted by g are left unchanged by f. Hence

For example, consider the cycles ( ) ( )

Here ( )( ) . /. /

. /

And ( )( ) . /. /

. /

Inverse of a cyclic permutation

We have seen that a cyclic permutation is nothing but a simple expression of a permutation of
two-rowed form. So, a cyclic permutation must have its inverse. We can find the inverse of the
cyclic permutation by first converting it to two-rowed expression and then exchanging its rows in
general. But this is somewhat lengthy to some extent and hence time consuming. We can find the
inverse of the cyclic permutation very easily in just one step using a simple rule which has been
obtained from the following important theorem.
Theorem 3: The inverse of a cyclic permutation is the cyclic permutation obtained by writing
the elements in the cycle in reverse order.

Proof: Let ( ) be a cycle of length n.

We need to show that ( ) ( )

We have, ( )( )

. /. /

. /

Similarly, ( )( )

. /. /

. /

So, it is clear that ( ) ( )

Inverse of the product of cyclic permutations

We have already seen that the symmetric set of all permutations of degree n is a group under
composition of mappings. Also, by property of groups, we have that

( ) .

Also, from the above theorem we have found that the inverse of a cyclic permutation is the cyclic
permutation obtained by writing the elements in the cycle in reverse order. So, we can easily find
and thereby ( )

Important Note: For two disjoint cycles , it can be verified that( ) . This
result is obtained by using the fact that product of disjoint cycles is always commutative.

Transpositions

A cycle of length 2 or a 2-cycle is called a transposition. For example, (1 2), (3 5), (2 4) are all
transpositions.

Note:

1. The concept of transpositions leads us to define even and odd permutations and also to
introduce the concept of alternating groups.
 2. The inverse of a transposition is the transposition itself. For example, consider the
transposition (2 6). Here (2 6)(2 6) = . /. /

=. / . Hence ( ) ( )

Some Important Results on the Product of permutations

Below we give some important results related to product of permutations in the form of theorems
without proofs but with proper verifications:

Theorem 1: Every permutation can be expressed as a product of disjoint cycles.

Verification:

Consider the permutation . /.

We can easily check that ( )( )

Theorem 2: Every cycle can be expressed as a product of transpositions in infinitely many ways.

Verification: Consider the cycle ( )

By actual multiplication, we can check that

( ) ( )( )( )( )

Since the inverse of a transposition is the transposition itself, so for a transposition, say ( )
we have,

( )( ) ( )( )( )( ) , ……….

That is, the product of even number of ( ) will give us the identity permutation only. So,
the insertion of any even number of a particular transposition between any two transpositions or
at both the ends of the cycle f doesn’t change it. This insertion can be done in infinitely many
ways. Therefore, f can be expressed as a product of transpositions in infinitely many ways.

Theorem 3: Every permutation can be expressed as a product of transpositions in infinitely

many ways.

This theorem is an outcome of combining the results in Theorem1 and Theorem2.

Theorem4: If a permutation is expressed as a product of transpositions, then the number of

transpositions is either always even or always odd.

Note: The proof of this theorem is beyond the scope of this book. But due to the fact of this
theorem now we are at a position to define even and odd permutations.
Even and Odd permutations

Definition. A permutation is said to be an even permutation if it can be expressed as a product of

an even number of transpositions and otherwise it is said to be an odd permutation.

Corollaries on the above theorems

Cor.1: A cycle of length n can be expressed as a product of n-1 transpositions. Therefore a cycle
of length n is an even or odd permutation according as n is odd or even respectively.

Cor.2: The identity permutation is an even permutation.

Cor.3: The product of two even permutations and two odd permutations are even permutations.

Cor.4: The product of an even permutation and an odd permutation is an odd permutation.

Cor.5: The inverse of an even permutation is an even permutation and that of an odd
permutation is an odd permutation.

Total number of even permutations of degree n

Theorem 5: Of the n! permutations of , there are number of even and number of odd
permutations.

Proof:

Let there be exactly k numbers of odd permutations and m numbers of even permutations in
so that . Further let the k distinct odd permutations in be
and the m distinct even permutations in be .

Now if be a transposition, then by closure property in the symmetric group , we have,

, are all elements of .

Clearly every member of the set { }is an even permutation and also every
member in { } is an odd permutation. So, it follows that

* + * +

And * + * +

From the above facts, we have, .

Now

Further
Alternating set of permutations

The set of all the even permutations in the symmetric group is denoted by and is called
an alternating set of permutations of degree n.

The Alternating group of all even permutations of degree n

Theorem: The set of all even permutations of degree n is a finite group of order with
respect to product of permutations.

Proof: Closure Property:

We have,

So, can be expressed as products of even number of transpositions. Hence their

product is also expressible as a product of even number of transpositions. That is, is an
even permutation. Therefore,

Associativity: We know that product of permutations is associative. Since, , so it is also

associative in

Existence of identity:

If ( ) be any transposition, then ( )( ) . This implies that the identity

permutation I is expressible as a product of even number of transpositions and hence is an even
permutation.

Further, .

Therefore is the identity element.

Existence of inverse:

Let be arbitrary. Then, is an even permutation.

Let ( )( )( )( ) ( )( )

Then by socks-shoe property,

,( )( )( ) ( )( )-

= ,( )- ,( )- ,( )- ,( )-

( )( ) ( )( )( )
 ( )( ) ( )( )( )

= an even permutation

Therefore, and clearly, .

Thus every element in possesses its inverse in .

Hence is a group itself and as a subset of , it is a subgroup of .

Order of a permutation:

If , then there always exists positive integers such that . The smallest of all
such positive integers is the order of the permutation .

Here we give the following two important results (without proof) for the easy calculation of
orders of any permutation.

Theorem1: The order of a cyclic permutation of length m is m.

Verification:

Let us consider the cycle ( ). This is a cycle of length 5. According to the

above theorem we must have that ( ) . We verify this in the following lines.

We have

( )( )

. /. / . /

. /. / . /

. /. / . /

. /. / . /

Hence ( )

Theorem2: The order of a permutation, when expressed as a product of disjoint cycles, is the
LCM of the lengths of the disjoint cycles.
Verification:

Let us consider the permutation . /. This can be expressed as a product

of two disjoint cycles as ( )( ). Now the LCM of the lengths 2 and 3 of the
disjoint cycles is 6. So, according to the above theorem we must have that ( )

We verify this result in the following lines.

. /. / . /

. /. / . /

. /. / . /

Thus ( ) ( ) ( )

This can alternatively be done as follows:

( )( )( )( )

( )( )( )( ) , -

( )( ) , -

( )

( )( ) ( )

( )( ) . /

Some Solved Examples

Example1: If . / . /, then find ,

and .

Solution: Here, . / . /

Now . /. /

. /. / . /
 . / . /

. /. /

. /. / . /

. /. /

. /. / . /

Example2: If . / . /, then express

, and as products of disjoint cycles. Also find their orders.

Solution: Here, . / . /

Now . / ( )( )

. / ( )( )

. / ( )( )

Further ( ) (( )( )) * + ( )

( ) (( )( )) * +

Example 3: Determine which of the following permutations are even or odd:

(i) . /( ) . /( ) ( )

Solution: We have

(i) . / ( )( ) ( )( )( )( )

( )

(ii) . / ( )( )( ) ( )( )( )( )
 ( )

(iii) ( ) ( )( )( )( )( )

( )

Example 4: Determine the orders of the following cycles:

(i) ( )( )( ) ( )( )( ) ( )( )

Solution: We have

(i) ( ) (( )( ))
(ii) ( ) (( )( ))
(iii) ( ) (( )( ))

Example 5: Write all the elements in and

Solution: has 4!=24 permutations. Here all the permutations in are listed below in the form
of cycles or product of disjoint cycles.

(1), (1 2), (1 3), (1 4), (2 3), (2 4), (3 4), (1 2 3), (1 3 2) , (1 2 4), (1 4 2), (1 3 4),
(1 4 3), (2 3 4), (2 4 3), (1 2)(3 4), (1 3)(2 4), (1 4)(2 3), (1 2 3 4), (1 2 4 3), (1 3 2 4),
(1 3 4 2), (1 4 2 3), (1 4 3 2).

And the 12 even permutations in are given below in the form of cycles or product of disjoint
cycles:

(1), (1 2 3), (1 3 2) , (1 2 4), (1 4 2), (1 3 4), (1 4 3), (2 3 4), (2 4 3), (1 2)(3 4),
(1 3)(2 4), (1 4)(2 3).

Exercises
1. Find the orders of (i) the alternating group and (ii) the symmetric group
2. Is the group Abelian? Justify your answer.
3. Consider the following permutations in :

. / . / . /
Then,
(a) Find αβ, α2 γ, βγ-2, αβα-1, β-6
(b) Express α, β, γ as products of disjoint cycles and hence find their orders.
 (c) Express α, β, γ as products of transpositions and hence determine whether they are
odd or even permutations.
4. What is the order of the product of a pair of disjoint cycles of lengths 4 and 6?
5. Express each of the following permutations as a product of disjoint cycles:
(a) (1 2 4 3) (4 2 5)
(b) (1 3 2 5 6) (2 3) (4 6 5 1 2)
(c) (1 2) (1 3) (2 3) (3 4 1)
6. What is the order of each of the following permutations:
(a) (1 4 3) (2 6 5 7)
(b) (2 3 4 5) ( 1 6 7)
(c) (1 2 4) ( 3 5 7 8 6 9)
(d) (1 2 3 5) (2 4 5 6 7)
(e) (3 4 5) (2 4 5)
7. Express the permutation . / as a product of transpositions and as
a product of disjoint cycles. Is this an element of the alternating group What is the
inverse and the order of
8. If . / then find and . Also find their orders.
9. Write all the even permutations in Is a non-Abelian group?
10. Show that a cycle containing odd number of symbols is an even permutation and a cycle
containing even number of symbols is an odd permutation.