AUTOMORPHISMS OF FINITE ABELIAN GROUPS

arXiv:math/0605185v1 [math.GR] 8 May 2006

CHRISTOPHER J. HILLAR AND DARREN L. RHEA

1. Introduction
In introductory abstract algebra classes, one typically encounters the classifica-
tion of finite Abelian groups [2]:
Theorem 1.1. Let G be a finite Abelian group. Then G is isomorphic to a product
of groups of the form
Hp = Z/pe1 Z × · · · × Z/pen Z,
in which p is a prime number and 1 ≤ e1 ≤ · · · ≤ en are positive integers.
Much less known, however, is that there is a description of Aut(G), the auto-
morphism group of G. The first compete characterization that we are aware of
is contained in a paper by Ranum [1] near the turn of the last century. Beyond
this, however, there are few other expositions. Our goal is to fill this gap, thereby
providing a much needed accessible and modern treatment.
Our characterization of Aut(G) is accomplished in three main steps. The first
observation is that it is enough to work with the simpler groups Hp . This reduction
is carried out by appealing to a fact about product automorphisms for groups with
relatively prime numbers of elements (Lemma 2.1). Next, we use Theorem 3.3 to
describe the endomorphism ring of Hp as a quotient of a matrix subring of Zn×n .
And finally, the units Aut(Hp ) ⊂ End(Hp ) are identified from this construction.
As a consequence of our investigation, we readily obtain an explicit formula for
the number of elements of Aut(G) for any finite Abelian group G (see also [3]).

2. Product Automorphisms
Let G = H ×K be a product of groups H and K, in which the orders of H and K
are relatively prime positive integers. It is natural to ask how the automorphisms
of G are related to those of H and K.
Lemma 2.1. Let H and K be finite groups with relatively prime orders. Then
Aut(H) × Aut(K) ∼ = Aut(H × K).
Proof. We exhibit a homomorphism φ : Aut(H)×Aut(K) → Aut(H×K) as follows.
Let α ∈ Aut(H) and β ∈ Aut(K). Then, as is easily seen, an automorphism φ(α, β)
of H × K is given by
φ(α, β)(h, k) = (α(h), β(k)).
Let idH ∈ Aut(H) and idK ∈ Aut(K) be the identity automorphisms of H and K,
respectively. To prove that φ is a homomorphism, notice that φ(idH , idK ) = idH×K
and that
φ(α1 α2 , β1 β2 )(h, k) = (α1 α2 (h), β1 β2 (k)) = φ(α1 , β1 )φ(α2 , β2 )(h, k),
for all α1 , α2 ∈ Aut(H), β1 , β2 ∈ Aut(K), and h ∈ H, k ∈ K.
1
2 C.J. HILLAR AND D.L. RHEA

We next verify that φ is an isomorphism. It is clear that φ is injective; thus we

are left with showing surjectivity. Let n = |H|, m = |K|, and write πH and πK
for the standard projection homomorphisms πH : H × K → H and πK : H × K →
K. Fix ω ∈ Aut(H × K), and consider the homomorphism γ : K → H given
by γ(k) = πH (w(1H , k)), in which 1H is the identity element of H. Notice that
{k n : k ∈ K} ⊆ ker γ since
1H = πH (w(1H , k))n = πH (w(1H , k)n ) = πH (w(1H , k n )) = γ(k n ).
Also, since m and n are relatively prime, the set {k n : k ∈ K} consists of m ele-
ments. Consequently, it follows that ker γ = K and γ is the trivial homomorphism.
Similarly, δ : H → K given by δ(h) = πK (w(h, 1K )) is trivial.
Finally, define endomorphisms of H and K as follows:
ωH (h) = πH (ω(h, 1K )), ωK (k) = πK (ω(1H , k)).
From this construction and the above arguments, we have
ω(h, k) = ω(h, 1K ) · ω(1H , k) = (ωH (h), ωK (k)) = φ(ωH , ωK )(h, k)
for all h ∈ H and k ∈ K. It remains to prove that ωH ∈ Aut(H) and ωK ∈
Aut(K), and for this it suffices that ωH and ωK are injective (since both H and
K are finite). To this end, suppose that ωH (h) = 1H for some h ∈ H. Then
w(h, 1K ) = (wH (h), wK (1K )) = (1H , 1K ), so h = 1H by injectivity of w. A similar
argument shows that ωK ∈ Aut(K), and this completes the proof. 

Let p be a prime number. The order of Hp = Z/pe1 Z × · · · × Z/pen Z is easily

seen to be pe1 +···+en . As G is isomorphic to a finite product of Hp over a distinct
set of primes p, Lemma 2.1 implies that Aut(G) is simply the product of Aut(Hp )
over the same set of primes. We will, therefore, devote our attention to computing
Aut(Hp ) for primes p and integers 1 ≤ e1 ≤ · · · ≤ en .

3. Endomorphisms of Hp
In order to carry out our characterization, it will be necessary to give a descrip-
tion of Ep = End(Hp ), the endomorphism ring of Hp . Elements of Ep are group
homomorphisms from Hp into itself, with ring multiplication given by composition
and addition given naturally by (A+B)(h) := A(h)+B(h) for A, B ∈ End(Hp ) and
h ∈ Hp . These rings behave much like matrix rings with some important differences
that we discuss below.
The cyclic group Cpei = Z/pei Z corresponds to the additive group for arith-
metic modulo pei , and we let gi denote the natural (additive) generator for Cpei .
Specifically, these elements gi can be viewed as the classes
1 = {x ∈ Z : x ≡ 1 (mod pei )}
of integers with remainder 1 upon division by pei .
Under this representation, an element of Hp is a vector (h1 , . . . , hn )T in which
each hi ∈ Z/pei Z and hi ∈ Z is an integral representative. With these notions in
place, we define the following set of matrices.
Definition 3.1.

Rp = (aij ) ∈ Zn×n : pei −ej | aij for all i and j satisfying 1 ≤ j ≤ i ≤ n .
 AUTOMORPHISMS OF FINITE ABELIAN GROUPS 3

As a simple example, take n = 3 with e1 = 1, e2 = 2, and e3 = 5. Then

  
 b11 b12 b13 
Rp =  b21 p b22 b23  : bij ∈ Z .
b31 p4 b32 p3
 
b33
In general, it is clear that Rp is closed under addition and contains the n×n identity
matrix I. It turns out that matrix multiplication also makes this set into a ring as
the following lemma demonstrates.
Lemma 3.2. Rp forms a ring under matrix multiplication.
Proof. Let A = (aij ) ∈ Rp . The condition that pei −ej | aij for all i ≥ j is equivalent
to the existence of a decomposition
A = P A′ P −1 ,
in which A′ ∈ Zn×n and P = diag(pe1 , . . . , pen ) is diagonal. In particular, if
A, B ∈ Rp , then AB = (P A′ P −1 )(P B ′ P −1 ) = P A′ B ′ P −1 ∈ Rp as required. 

Let πi : Z → Z/pei Z be the standard quotient mapping πi (h) = h, and let

π : Zn → Hp be the homomorphism given by

π(h1 , . . . , hn )T = (π1 (h1 ), . . . , πn (hn ))T = (h1 , . . . , hn )T .

We may now give a description of Ep as a quotient of the matrix ring Rp . In words,
the result says that an endomorphism of Hp is multiplication by a matrix A ∈ Rp
on a vector of integer representatives, followed by an application of π.
Theorem 3.3. The map ψ : Rp → End(Hp ) given by

ψ(A)(h1 , . . . , hn )T = π(A(h1 , . . . , hn )T )
is a surjective ring homomorphism.
Proof. Let us first verify that ψ(A) is a well-defined map from Hp to itself. Let
A = (aij ) ∈ Rp , and suppose that (r 1 , . . . , r n )T = (s1 , . . . , sn )T for integers ri , si (so
that pei | ri −si for all i). The kth vector entry of the difference π(A(r1 , . . . , rn )T )−
π(A(s1 , . . . , sn )T ) is
n
! n
! n n
!
X X X X
πk aki ri − πk aki si = πk aki ri − aki si
i=1 i=1 i=1 i=1
n  
(3.1) X aki ek −ei
= πk ·p (ri − si )
i=1
pek −ei
= 0,

since pek | pek −ei (ri − si ) for k ≥ i and pek | (ri − si ) when k < i. Next, since π
and A are both linear, it follows that ψ(A) is linear. Thus, ψ(A) ∈ End(Hp ) for all
A ∈ Rp .
To prove surjectivity of the map ψ, let wi = (0, . . . , gi , . . . , 0)T be the vector
with gi in the ith component and zeroes everywhere else. An endomorphism M ∈
End(Hp ) is determined by where it sends each wi ; however, there isn’t complete
4 C.J. HILLAR AND D.L. RHEA

freedom in the mapping of these elements. Specifically, suppose that M (wj ) =

(h1j , . . . , hnj )T = π(h1j , . . . , hnj )T for integers hij . Then,

T
0 = M (0) = M (pej wj ) = M wj + · · · + M wj = pej h1j , . . . , pej hnj .
| {z }
pej

Consequently, it follows that pei | pej hij for all i and j, and therefore pei −ej | hij
when i ≥ j. Forming the matrix H = (hij ) ∈ Rp , we have ψ(H) = M by construc-
tion, and this proves that ψ is surjective.
Finally, we need to show that ψ is a ring homomorphism. Clearly, from the
definition, ψ(I) = idEp , and also ψ(A + B) = ψ(A) + ψ(B). If A, B ∈ Rp , then a
straightforward calculation reveals that ψ(AB) is the endomorphism composition
ψ(A) ◦ ψ(B) by the properties of matrix multiplication. This completes the proof.

Given this description of End(Hp ), one can characterize those endomorphisms
giving rise to elements in Aut(Hp ). Before beginning this discussion, let us first
calculate the kernel of the map ψ defined in Theorem 3.3.
Lemma 3.4. The kernel of ψ is given by the set of matrices A = (aij ) ∈ Rp such
that pei | aij for all i, j.
Proof. As before, let wj = (0, . . . , gj , . . . , 0)T ∈ Hp be the vector with gj in the jth
component and zeroes everywhere else. If A = (aij ) ∈ Rp has the property that
each aij is divisible by pei , then
ψ(A)wj = (π1 (a1j ), . . . , πn (anj )) = 0.
In particular, since each h ∈ Hp is a Z-linear combination of the wj , it follows that
ψ(A)h = 0 for all h ∈ Hp . This proves that A ∈ ker ψ.
Conversely, suppose that A = (aij ) ∈ ker ψ, so that ψ(A)wj = 0 for each wj .
Then, from the above calculation, each aij is divisible by pei . This proves the
lemma. 
Theorem 3.3 and Lemma 3.4 together give an explicit characterization of the
ring End(Hp ) as a quotient Rp / ker ψ. Following this discussion, we now calculate
the units Aut(Hp ). The only additional tool that we require is the following fact
from elementary matrix theory.
Lemma 3.5. Let A ∈ Zn×n with det(A) 6= 0. Then there exists a unique matrix
B ∈ Qn×n (called the adjugate of A) such that AB = BA = det(A)I, and moreover
B has integer entries.
Writing Fp for the field Z/pZ, the following is a complete description of Aut(Hp ).
Theorem 3.6. An endomorphism M = ψ(A) is an automorphism if and only if
A (mod p) ∈ GLn (Fp ).
Proof. We begin with a short interlude. Fix a matrix A ∈ Rp with det(A) 6= 0.
Lemma 3.5 tells us that there exists a matrix B ∈ Zn×n such that AB = BA =
det(A)I. We would like to show that B is actually an element of Rp . For the
proof, express A = P A′ P −1 for some A′ ∈ Zn×n , and let B ′ ∈ Zn×n be such that
A′ B ′ = B ′ A′ = det(A′ )I (again using Lemma 3.5). Notice that det(A) = det(A′ ).
Let C = P B ′ P −1 and observe that
AC = P A′ B ′ P −1 = det(A)I = P B ′ A′ P −1 = CA.
 AUTOMORPHISMS OF FINITE ABELIAN GROUPS 5

By the uniqueness of B from the lemma, it follows that B = C = P B ′ P −1 , and

thus B is in Rp , as desired.
Returning to the proof of the theorem (⇐), suppose that p ∤ det(A) (so that A
(mod p) ∈ GLn (Fp )), and let s ∈ Z be such that s is the inverse of det(A) modulo
pen (such an integer s exists since gcd(det(A), pen ) = 1). Notice that we also have
det(A) · s ≡ 1 (mod pej ) whenever 1 ≤ j ≤ n. Let B be the adjugate of A as in
Lemma 3.5. We now define an element of Rp ,
A(−1) := s · B,
whose image under ψ is the inverse of the endomorphism represented by A:
ψ(A(−1) A) = ψ(AA(−1) ) = ψ(s · det(A)I) = idEp .
This proves that ψ(A) ∈ Aut(Hp ).
Conversely, if ψ(A) = M and ψ(C) = M −1 ∈ End(Hp ) exists, then
ψ(AC − I) = ψ(AC) − idEp = 0.
Hence, AC − I ∈ ker ψ. From the kernel calculation in Lemma 3.4, it follows that
p | AC − I (entrywise), and so AC ≡ I (mod p). Therefore,
1 ≡ det(AC) ≡ det(A) det(C) (mod p).
In particular, p ∤ det(A), and the theorem follows. 

As a simple application of the above discussion, consider the case when ei = 1 for
i = 1, . . . , n. Here, Hp can be viewed as the familiar vector space Fnp and End(Hp )
is isomorphic to the ring Mn (Fp ) of n × n matrices with coefficients in the field Fp .
Theorem 3.6 is then simply the statement that Aut(Hp ) corresponds to the set of
invertible matrices GLn (Fp ).

4. Counting the Automorphisms of Hp

To further convince the reader of the usefulness of Theorem 3.6, we will briefly
explain how to count the number of elements in Aut(Hp ) using our characterization.
Appealing to Lemma 2.1, one then finds an explicit formula for the number of
automorphisms of any finite Abelian group. The calculation proceeds in two stages:
(1) finding all elements of GLn (Fp ) that can be extended to a matrix A ∈ Rp
that represents an endomorphism, and then (2) calculating all the distinct ways of
extending such an element to an endomorphism.
Define the following 2n numbers:
dk = max{l : el = ek }, ck = min{l : el = ek }.
Since ek = ek , we have dk ≥ k and ck ≤ k. We need to find all M ∈ GLn (Fp ) of
the form
 
m11 m12 · · · m1n
 ..   
 .  m1c1 ∗
  
 md 1 1   m2c2 

M = = .. .

 md 2 2  
 . 
 .. 
0 m · · · m
 .  ncn nn
0 md n n
6 C.J. HILLAR AND D.L. RHEA

These number
n
Y
(pdk − pk−1 ),
k=1
since we only need linearly independent columns. Next, to extend each element
mij from mij ∈ Z/pZ to aij ∈ pei −ej Z/pei Z such that
aij ≡ mij (mod p),
ej
there are p ways to do this to the necessary zeroes (i.e., when ei > ej ), since
any element of pei −ej Z/pei Z will do. Additionally, there are pei −1 ways at the not
necessarily zero entries (ei ≤ ej ), since we may add any element of pZ/pei Z. This
proves the following result.
Theorem 4.1. The Abelian group Hp = Z/pe1 Z × · · · × Z/pen Z has
n
Y n n

Y Y
|Aut(Hp )| = pdk − pk−1 (pej )n−dj (pei −1 )n−ci +1 .
k=1 j=1 i=1

References
[1] A. Ranum. The group of classes of congruent matrices with application to the group of iso-
morphisms of any abelian group. Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 8 (1907) 71-91.
[2] S. Lang, Algebra 3rd ed., Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, New York, 1993.
[3] J.-M. Pan, The order of the automorphism group of finite abelian group, J. Yunnan Univ. Nat.
Sci. 26 (2004) 370–372.

Department of Mathematics, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843

E-mail address: chillar@math.tamu.edu

Department of Mathematics, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720

E-mail address: drhea@math.berkeley.edu