A2.4 B2.3

Groups, Rings and Fields
Part II, 2001

(i) Show that the ring k=F2[X]/(X2+X+1)k=\mathbf{F}_{2}[X] /\left(X^{2}+X+1\right) is a field. How many elements does it have?

(ii) Let kk be as in (i). By considering what happens to a chosen basis of the vector space k2k^{2}, or otherwise, find the order of the groups GL2(k)G L_{2}(k) and SL2(k)S L_{2}(k).

By considering the set of lines in k2k^{2}, or otherwise, show that SL2(k)S L_{2}(k) is a subgroup of the symmetric group S5S_{5}, and identify this subgroup.