module Algebra.Group where

Groups🔗

A group is a monoid that has inverses for every element. The inverse for an element is necessarily, unique; Thus, to say that “ $(G, \star)$ is a group” is a statement about $(G, \star)$ having a certain property (namely, being a group), not structure on $(G, \star)$ .

Furthermore, since group homomorphisms automatically preserve this structure, we are justified in calling this property rather than property-like structure.

In particular, for a binary operator to be a group operator, it has to be a monoid, meaning it must have a unit.

record is-group {ℓ} {A : Type ℓ} (_*_ : A → A → A) : Type ℓ where
  no-eta-equality
  field
    unit : A

There is also a map which assigns to each element $x$ its inverse $x^{-1}$ , and this inverse must multiply with $x$ to give the unit, both on the left and on the right:

    inverse : A → A

    has-is-monoid : is-monoid unit _*_
    inversel : {x : A} → inverse x * x ≡ unit
    inverser : {x : A} → x * inverse x ≡ unit

  open is-monoid has-is-monoid public

Note that any element $x$ of $G$ determines two bijections on the underlying set of $G$ , by multiplication with $x$ on the left and on the right. The inverse of this bijection is given by multiplication with $x^{-1}$ , and the proof that these are in fact inverse functions are given by the group laws:

  ⋆-equivl : ∀ x → is-equiv (x *_)
  ⋆-equivl x = is-iso→is-equiv (iso (inverse x *_)
    (λ _ → cancell inverser) λ _ → cancell inversel)

  ⋆-equivr : ∀ y → is-equiv (_* y)
  ⋆-equivr y = is-iso→is-equiv (iso (_* inverse y)
    (λ _ → cancelr inversel) λ _ → cancelr inverser)

is-group is propositional🔗

Showing that is-group takes values in propositions is straightforward, but, fortunately, very easy to automate: Our automation takes care of all the propositional components, and we’ve already established that units and inverses (thus inverse-assigning maps) are unique in a monoid.

private unquoteDecl eqv = declare-record-iso eqv (quote is-group)

is-group-is-prop : ∀ {ℓ} {A : Type ℓ} {_*_ : A → A → A}
                 → is-prop (is-group _*_)
is-group-is-prop {A = A} x y = Equiv.injective (Iso→Equiv eqv) $
     1x=1y
  ,ₚ funext (λ a →
      monoid-inverse-unique x.has-is-monoid a _ _
        x.inversel
        (y.inverser ∙ sym 1x=1y))
  ,ₚ prop!
  where
    module x = is-group x
    module y = is-group y hiding (magma-hlevel)
    A-hl : ∀ {n} → H-Level A (2 + n)
    A-hl = basic-instance {T = A} 2 (x .is-group.has-is-set)
    1x=1y = identities-equal _ _
      (is-monoid→is-unital-magma x.has-is-monoid)
      (is-monoid→is-unital-magma y.has-is-monoid)

instance
  H-Level-is-group
    : ∀ {ℓ} {G : Type ℓ} {_+_ : G → G → G} {n}
    → H-Level (is-group _+_) (suc n)
  H-Level-is-group = prop-instance is-group-is-prop

Group homomorphisms🔗

In contrast with monoid homomorphisms, for group homomorphisms, it is not necessary for the underlying map to explicitly preserve the unit (and the inverses); It is sufficient for the map to preserve the multiplication.

As a stepping stone, we define what it means to equip a type with a group structure: a group structure on a type.

record Group-on {ℓ} (A : Type ℓ) : Type ℓ where
  field
    _⋆_ : A → A → A
    has-is-group : is-group _⋆_

  infixr 20 _⋆_
  infixl 30 _⁻¹

  _⁻¹ : A → A
  x ⁻¹ = has-is-group .is-group.inverse x

  open is-group has-is-group public

We have that a map is a group homomorphism if it preserves the multiplication.

record
  is-group-hom
    {ℓ ℓ'} {A : Type ℓ} {B : Type ℓ'}
    (G : Group-on A) (G' : Group-on B) (e : A → B) : Type (ℓ ⊔ ℓ') where
  private
    module A = Group-on G
    module B = Group-on G'

  field
    pres-⋆ : (x y : A) → e (x A.⋆ y) ≡ e x B.⋆ e y

A tedious calculation shows that this is sufficient to preserve the identity:

  private
    1A = A.unit
    1B = B.unit

  pres-id : e 1A ≡ 1B
  pres-id =
    e 1A                       ≡⟨ sym B.idr ⟩
    e 1A B.⋆ ⌜ 1B ⌝            ≡˘⟨ ap¡ B.inverser ⟩
    e 1A B.⋆ (e 1A B.— e 1A)   ≡⟨ B.associative ⟩
    ⌜ e 1A B.⋆ e 1A ⌝ B.— e 1A ≡⟨ ap! (sym (pres-⋆ _ _) ∙ ap e A.idl) ⟩
    e 1A B.— e 1A              ≡⟨ B.inverser ⟩
    1B                         ∎

  pres-inv : ∀ {x} → e (A.inverse x) ≡ B.inverse (e x)
  pres-inv {x} =
    monoid-inverse-unique B.has-is-monoid (e x) _ _
      (sym (pres-⋆ _ _) ·· ap e A.inversel ·· pres-id)
      B.inverser

  pres-diff : ∀ {x y} → e (x A.— y) ≡ e x B.— e y
  pres-diff {x} {y} =
    e (x A.— y)                 ≡⟨ pres-⋆ _ _ ⟩
    e x B.⋆ ⌜ e (A.inverse y) ⌝ ≡⟨ ap! pres-inv ⟩
    e x B.— e y                 ∎

An equivalence is an equivalence of groups when its underlying map is a group homomorphism.

Group≃
  : ∀ {ℓ} (A B : Σ (Type ℓ) Group-on) (e : A .fst ≃ B .fst) → Type ℓ
Group≃ A B (f , _) = is-group-hom (A .snd) (B .snd) f

Group[_⇒_] : ∀ {ℓ} (A B : Σ (Type ℓ) Group-on) → Type ℓ
Group[ A ⇒ B ] = Σ (A .fst → B .fst) (is-group-hom (A .snd) (B .snd))

Making groups🔗

Since the interface of Group-on is very deeply nested, we introduce a helper function for arranging the data of a group into a record.

record make-group {ℓ} (G : Type ℓ) : Type ℓ where
  no-eta-equality
  field
    group-is-set : is-set G
    unit : G
    mul  : G → G → G
    inv  : G → G

    assoc : ∀ x y z → mul x (mul y z) ≡ mul (mul x y) z
    invl  : ∀ x → mul (inv x) x ≡ unit
    idl   : ∀ x → mul unit x ≡ x

  private
    inverser : ∀ x → mul x (inv x) ≡ unit
    inverser x =
      mul x (inv x)                                   ≡˘⟨ idl _ ⟩
      mul unit (mul x (inv x))                        ≡˘⟨ ap₂ mul (invl _) refl ⟩
      mul (mul (inv (inv x)) (inv x)) (mul x (inv x)) ≡˘⟨ assoc _ _ _ ⟩
      mul (inv (inv x)) (mul (inv x) (mul x (inv x))) ≡⟨ ap₂ mul refl (assoc _ _ _) ⟩
      mul (inv (inv x)) (mul (mul (inv x) x) (inv x)) ≡⟨ ap₂ mul refl (ap₂ mul (invl _) refl) ⟩
      mul (inv (inv x)) (mul unit (inv x))            ≡⟨ ap₂ mul refl (idl _) ⟩
      mul (inv (inv x)) (inv x)                       ≡⟨ invl _ ⟩
      unit                                            ∎

  to-group-on : Group-on G
  to-group-on .Group-on._⋆_ = mul
  to-group-on .Group-on.has-is-group .is-group.unit = unit
  to-group-on .Group-on.has-is-group .is-group.inverse = inv
  to-group-on .Group-on.has-is-group .is-group.inversel = invl _
  to-group-on .Group-on.has-is-group .is-group.inverser = inverser _
  to-group-on .Group-on.has-is-group .is-group.has-is-monoid .is-monoid.idl {x} = idl x
  to-group-on .Group-on.has-is-group .is-group.has-is-monoid .is-monoid.idr {x} =
    mul x ⌜ unit ⌝           ≡˘⟨ ap¡ (invl x) ⟩
    mul x (mul (inv x) x)    ≡⟨ assoc _ _ _ ⟩
    mul ⌜ mul x (inv x) ⌝ x  ≡⟨ ap! (inverser x) ⟩
    mul unit x               ≡⟨ idl x ⟩
    x                        ∎
  to-group-on .Group-on.has-is-group .is-group.has-is-monoid .has-is-semigroup =
    record { has-is-magma = record { has-is-set = group-is-set }
           ; associative = λ {x y z} → assoc x y z
           }

open make-group using (to-group-on) public

Symmetric groups🔗

If $X$ is a set, then the type of all bijections $X \simeq X$ is also a set, and it forms the carrier for a group: The symmetric group on $X$ .

Sym : ∀ {ℓ} (X : Set ℓ) → Group-on (∣ X ∣ ≃ ∣ X ∣)
Sym X = to-group-on group-str where
  open make-group
  group-str : make-group (∣ X ∣ ≃ ∣ X ∣)
  group-str .mul g f = f ∙e g

The group operation is composition of equivalences; The identity element is the identity equivalence.

  group-str .unit = id , id-equiv

This type is a set because $X \to X$ is a set (because $X$ is a set by assumption), and being an equivalence is a proposition.

  group-str .group-is-set = hlevel!

The associativity and identity laws hold definitionally.

  group-str .assoc _ _ _ = Σ-prop-path is-equiv-is-prop refl
  group-str .idl _ = Σ-prop-path is-equiv-is-prop refl

The inverse is given by the inverse equivalence, and the inverse equations hold by the fact that the inverse of an equivalence is both a section and a retraction.

  group-str .inv = _e⁻¹
  group-str .invl (f , eqv) =
    Σ-prop-path is-equiv-is-prop (funext (equiv→unit eqv))