International Journal of Mathematics and Physical Sciences Research ISSN 2348-5736 (Online)

Vol. 6, Issue 1, pp: (113-118), Month: April - September 2018, Available at: www.researchpublish.com

On some lattice theoretic properties in the

lattice of subgroups of the symmetric groups
1
A. Vethamanickam, 2C. Krishna Kumar
1
Associate Professor, Department of Mathematics, Rani Anna Government College for Women, Tirunelveli-8
2
Research Scholar, Department of Mathematics, Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Abishekapatti, Tirunelveli
627 012, Tamilnadu, India

Abstract: In this paper we study about some lattice theoretic properties in the lattice of subgroups of S n. The lattice
theoretic properties verified are: distributivity, general disjointness condition, supersolvability, supermodularity,
semi-supermodularity, pseudo-complementedness in L(Sn).
Keywords: symmetric group, lattice of subgroups, lattice theoretic properties.

1. INTRODUCTION
In this paper we examine some lattice theoretic properties in the subgroup lattices. We have given “The structure of the
lattice of subgroups of the symmetric group S5” in [12] and we have investigated there some basic properties satisfied by
it. In this paper we study about L(Sn) is distributive and pseudo complemented if and only if n 2. We prove also that
L(Sn) is satisfy the general disjointness condition, supermodular, semi-supermodular if and only if n 3. We prove also
that every atom in L(Sn) is non modular when n = 4 and n = 5. We also prove that L(Sn) is supersolvable when n = 2 and
n = 3 and L(Sn) is not supersolvable when n = 4 and n = 5. For n 5, we cannot decide the supersolvability and it
remains an open problem.

2. PRELIMINARY
We recall some lattice theoretic definitions that will be used later.
Definition 2.1
A Lattice L is said to be distributive if a (b c) = [(a b) (a c)] for all a, b, c L.
Definition 2.2
An element a P is called an atom, if a 0 and it is a dual atom, if a 1.
Definition 2.3
A Lattice L is said to be supersolvable, if it contains a maximal chain called an M-chain in which every element is
modular. By a modular element m in a lattice L, we mean x (m y) = (x m) y whenever x y in L.
Definition 2.4
A lattice L with 0 satisfies the general disjointness property (GD) if x y = 0 and (x y) z = 0 implies that x (y )
= 0, for x,y L.
Definition 2.5
A lattice L is said to be supermodular if it satisfies the following identity (a b) (a c) (a d) = a [b c (a
d)] [c d (a b)] [b d (a c)] for all a, b, c, d L.
Definition 2.6
A lattice L is said to be semi-supermodular if it satisfies the following identity (a x1) (a x2) (a x3) (a x4) = a
[x1 x2 (a x3) (a x4)] x1 x3 (a x2) (a x4) x1 x4 (a x2) (a x3)] x2 x3 (a x1) (a
x4)] x2 x4 (a x1) (a x3)] x3 x4 (a x1) (a x2)] for all a, x1, x2, x3, x4 in L.
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 International Journal of Mathematics and Physical Sciences Research ISSN 2348-5736 (Online)
Vol. 6, Issue 1, pp: (113-118), Month: April - September 2018, Available at: www.researchpublish.com

Definition 2.7
Let L be a lattice with 0. An element a* L is called a pseudo complement of a L if a a* = 0 and if for any x L
with x a = 0 we have x a*. A lattice L with 0 is called pseudo complemented if every element of L has a pseudo
complement.
We produce below the structure of the lattice of subgroups of the symmetric groups S 2, S3, S4 and S5.

S2

H2 H3 H4 A3

{ i}
{i

Fig. 2.1: Lattice Structure of L(S2) Fig. 2.2 : Lattice Structure of L(S3)

S4

N22 N23 N24 N25

P28 A4
P26 P27

M18 L11 L12 L13 L14

M1 M16 M17 M19 M20 M2
5

K7 K8 K9 K10
K5 K6
K2 K3 K4

{i}

Fig. 2.3: Lattice Structure of L(S4) [7]

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Vol. 6, Issue 1, pp: (113-118), Month: April - September 2018, Available at: www.researchpublish.com

S5

Row I

Row II

Row III

Row IV

{ i}

Fig. 2.4: Lattice Structure of L(S5) [12]

Row I : (Left to right): R129 to R138, V150 to V154, R139 to R143 and T144 to T149
Row II : (Left to right): N78 to N87, N98 to N107,N88 to N97, Q108 to Q122 and P123 to P128
Row III: (Left to right): K27 to K36, L37 to L51, L52 to L66, L67 to L71 and M72 to M77
Row IV: (Left to right): H2 to H11 and H12 to H26.

3. MAIN RESULT
3.1 Lattice theoretic properties in the subgroup lattices of the symmetric group sn
Sn can be considered as the group of all permutations on n symbols1, 2, …... n. Then we may think of Sn-1 as the subgroup
of Sn where Sn-1 is the collection of all permutations in Sn each of which leave one particular symbol fixed.
There are n such subgroups Sn-1 of Sn where one subgroup Sn-1 corresponds to fixation of one symbol among 1, 2, ………,
n.
Similarly, by fixing two particular symbols at a time we get nC 2 intervals of the form [{i}, Sn-2] in L(Sn) and so on and
finally fixing n-1 particular symbols at a time we have n intervals of the form [{i}, S 2] in L(Sn).
Therefore, the study of many of the lattice theoretical properties of L(S n) reduces to a study on the lattices L(Si), where
i n.

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Lemma 3.1.1
L(Sn) is distributive if and only if n 2
Proof:
Let L(Sn) be distributive
Suppose that n 2. We know that a lattice is distributive if and only if it contains no sublattice isomorphic to N 5 or M3.
L(Sn) contains L(S3) as an interval which is not distributive, as L(S3) is isomorphic to M4. Hence, L(Sn) is distributive
implies that n 2.
Conversely, assume that n 2, Since L(S2) is isomorphic to the two element chain it is distributive. Hence the proof.
Lemma: 3.1.2
L(Sn) satisfies the general disjointness condition if and only if n 3.
Proof:
Let us assume that L(Sn) satisfies the general disjointness condition
Suppose that n 3, then L(Sn) contains L(S4) as an interval which does not satisfy the general disjointness condition,
since there are K2, K3 and L11 in L(S4) such that K2 K3 = {i} and (K2 K3) L11 = {i},
But, K2 (K3 L11) = K2 A4 = K2 {i}
Therefore L(Sn) satisfies the general disjointness condition implies that n 3
Conversely, assume that n 3
Since L(S2) is isomorphic to B1 and L(S3) is isomorphic to M4 , they satisfy the general disjoint condition . Hence the
proof.
Lemma: 3.1.3
In L(S4), every atom is non modular.
Proof:
Consider an atom among the atoms K2, K3, and K4, say K2
We have K5 N24
Now, (K5 K 2) N24 = S4 N24 = N24 whereas K5 (K2 N24) = K5 {i} = K5
Hence, (K5 K 2) N24 K5 (K2 N24)
Therefore, K2 is not modular in L(S4)
Similarly, we can prove that K3 and K4 are not modular.
By similar argument we can prove that all the other atoms in L(S 4) are not modular. Hence there is no atom in L(S4)
which is modular.
Lemma: 3.1.4
In L(S5), every atom is non modular.
Proof:
Consider an atom among the atoms M72, M73, …….. M77 say M72
We have L37 Q108
Now, (L37 M72) Q108 = S5 Q108 = Q108
whereas L37 (M72 Q108) = L37 e = L37
Since L37 Q108 , we have M72 is not modular
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Vol. 6, Issue 1, pp: (113-118), Month: April - September 2018, Available at: www.researchpublish.com

Similar argument holds for M73, M74,…….., M77

Similarly we can prove that all the atoms in L(S5) are non modular.
Hence there is no atom in L(S5) which is modular.
Lemma 3.1.5
L(Sn) is supersolvable when n = 2 and n = 3 and L(Sn) is not supersolvable when n = 4 and n = 5
Proof:
We know that any modular lattice is supersolvable
Since L(Sn) is modular when n = 2 and n = 3, it is supersolvable.
When n = 4,
By lemma 3.1.3 we have, no atom in L(S4) is modular, so there is no maximal chain in L(S 4) with modular elements.
Hence L(S4) is not supersolvable.
When n = 5
By lemma 3.1.4 we have, no atom in L(S5) is modular, so there is no maximal chain in L(S 5) with modular elements.
Hence L(S5) is not supersolvable.
Note:
For n 5, we cannot decide the supersolvability and it remains an open problem.
Lemma 3.1.6
L(Sn) is Supermodular if and only if n 3
Proof:
Let L(Sn) be supermodular
Suppose that n 3, then L(Sn) contains L(S4) as an interval which is not supermodular. Therefore, the supermodularity of
L(Sn) implies that n 3.
Conversely, assume that n 3 is true.
Since we know that L(S2) is isomorphic to the two element chain it is distributive and we have every distributive lattice is
supermodular. Therefore L(S2) is supermodular. Similarly L(S3) is isomorphic to M4 is supermodular. Hence the proof.
Lemma 3.1.7
L(Sn) is semi-supermodular if and only if n 3
Proof:
Let L(Sn) be semi-supermodular
Suppose that n 3, then L(Sn) contains L(S4) as an interval which is not semi supermodular. For, M15, M19, L11, K5,
N25 L(S4)
(M15 M19) (M15 L11) (M15 K5) (M15 N25) = P26
But, M15 [M19 L11 (M15 K5) (M15 N25)] [ M19 K5 (M15 L11) (M15 N25) [M19 N25 (M15 L11)
(M15 K5)] L11 K5 (M15 M19) (M15 N25)] L11 N25 (M15 M19) (M15 K5)] [K5 N25 (M15
M19) (M15 L11)] = M15 P26
Therefore L(S4) is not semi-supermodular
Therefore, the semi-supermodularity of L(Sn) implies that n 3.
Conversely, assume that n 3 is true.

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Since we know that L(S2) is isomorphic to the two element chain which is distributive and therefore supermodular. Also
L(S3) is isomorphic to M4 which is supermodular.
We know that any supermodular lattice is semi-supermodular
By lemma 3.1.6, L(Sn) is semi-supermodular if and only if n 3.
Lemma 3.1.8
L(Sn) is pseudo complemented if and only if n 2
Proof:
Let L(Sn) be pseudo complemented
Suppose that n 2, then L(Sn) contains L(S3) as an interval which is isomorphic to M 4 , which is not pseudo
complemented.
Therefore, the pseudo complementedness of L(Sn) implies that n 2.
Conversely, assume that n 2 is true.
Since, L(S2) is isomorphic to the two element chain, it is pseudo complemented. Hence the proof.

4. CONCLUSION
In this paper we have investigated some of the lattice theoretic properties distributivity, general disjointness condition,
supersolvability, supermodularity, semi-supermodularity, pseudo complementedness in L(Sn).
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[8] Varlet. J. C., A genaralisation of notion of pseudo-complementedness, Bull.Soc.Roy.Liege., 37, 149-158(1968).
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