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I am given the permutation $(13)(24)$ in the symmetric group $S_4$.

I've been asked to find all the conjugates in this symmetric group, though I am confused as to what the conjugate would be for a permutation. I understand that the inverse is simply the reverse of the direction of the permutation (which would be the same here, I believe), but for the conjugate I am at a loss. I know for example that the conjugate of a real number is the same, and for a complex number it is a sign change. Would appreciate some help.

Parcly Taxel
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Given elements $a$ and $b$ in a group $G$, $a$ is said to be conjugate to $b$, if there is some $c \in G$ satisfying $c^{-1}ac = b$.

Now, conjugacy is an equivalence relation on elements of a group, because :

  • $a = eae=e^{-1}ae$, where $e$ is the identity.

  • If $a = c^{-1}bc$, then $b = (c^{-1})^{-1} a c^{-1}$.

  • If $a = d^{-1}bd$ and $b = f^{-1}cf$ then $a = (fd)^{-1}c(fd)$.

Hence, the equivalence class of $a$ i.e. the set of elements which are conjugate to $a$, are called the conjugates of $a$.


For $S_n$, we have the cycle notation :for example $(abc)$ is the permutation taking $a \to b, b\to c, c\to a$. Every element can be written as a product of disjoint cycles. Now, let $h$ be a permutation in $S_n$, and $g = (a_1...a_i)(b_1...b_j)...(t_1...t_l)$ be some element of $S_n$ written as a product of disjoint cycles.

Then, turns out $h^{-1}gh $ has a cycle notation : $(h(a_1) ... h(a_i))(h(b_1)...h(b_j))...(h(t_1)...h(t_l))$ as a product of disjoint cycles. Therefore, $h^{-1}gh$ retains the disjoint cycle structure of $g$ : the same number of cycles, and each cycle has the same number of elements.

Conversely, given any permutation $f$ with the same disjoint cycle structure as $g$, then a $h$ will exist so that $h^{-1}gh = f$. Write down $f$ like how I wrote down $g$ and see how $h$ can be described.


From the above paragraphs follows :

Two permutations are conjugate if and only if they have the same cycle structure.

Hence, all you need to do, is to list permutations, which have the same cycle structure as $(13)(24)$, which means that it is of the form $(ab)(cd)$, where $\{ a,b,c,d\} = \{ 1,2,3,4\}$.

So, in this case, you would get permutations that look like this:

$(12)(34)$

$(13)(24)$

$(14)(23)$

The above three are conjugate, and no other permutation is conjugate to any of these.

  • That's the rule. OP might also like to know the definition; $x$ and $y$ are conjugate in a group $G$ if there is an element $g$ in $G$ such that $x=g^{-1}yg$. – Gerry Myerson Oct 08 '16 at 04:44