Paper 2, Section II, I

Representation Theory
Part II, 2016

Show that the 1-dimensional (complex) characters of a finite group GG form a group under pointwise multiplication. Denote this group by G^\widehat{G}. Show that if gGg \in G, the map χχ(g)\chi \mapsto \chi(g) from G^\widehat{G}to C\mathbb{C} is a character of G^\widehat{G}, hence an element of G^\widehat{G}. What is the kernel of the mapGG^^\operatorname{map} G \rightarrow \widehat{\widehat{G}}?

Show that if GG is abelian the map GG^^G \rightarrow \widehat{\widehat{G}}is an isomorphism. Deduce, from the structure theorem for finite abelian groups, that the groups GG and G^\widehat{G}are isomorphic as abstract groups.