A4.4

Groups, Rings and Fields
Part II, 2004

(a) Let tt be the maximal power of the prime pp dividing the order of the finite group GG, and let N(pt)N\left(p^{t}\right) denote the number of subgroups of GG of order ptp^{t}. State clearly the numerical restrictions on N(pt)N\left(p^{t}\right) given by the Sylow theorems.

If HH and KK are subgroups of GG of orders rr and ss respectively, and their intersection HKH \cap K has order tt, show the set HK={hk:hH,kK}H K=\{h k: h \in H, k \in K\} contains rs/tr s / t elements.

(b) The finite group GG has 48 elements. By computing the possible values of N(16)N(16), show that GG cannot be simple.