In mathematics, specifically in abstract algebra, a torsion-free abelian group is an abelian group which has no non-trivial torsion elements; that is, a group in which the group operation is commutative and the identity element is the only element with finite order.
While finitely generated abelian groups are completely classified, not much is known about infinitely generated abelian groups, even in the torsion-free countable case.
Abelian group
An abelian group is said to be torsion-free if no element other than the identity is of finite order. Explicitly, for any , the only element for which is .
A natural example of a torsion-free group is , as only the integer 0 can be added to itself finitely many times to reach 0. More generally, the free abelian group is torsion-free for any . An important step in the proof of the classification of finitely generated abelian groups is that every such torsion-free group is isomorphic to a .
A non-finitely generated countable example is given by the additive group of the polynomial ring (the free abelian group of countable rank).
More complicated examples are the additive group of the rational field , or its subgroups such as (rational numbers whose denominator is a power of ). Yet more involved examples are given by groups of higher rank.
Rank of an abelian group
The rank of an abelian group is the dimension of the -vector space . Equivalently it is the maximal cardinality of a linearly independent (over ) subset of .
If is torsion-free then it injects into . Thus, torsion-free abelian groups of rank 1 are exactly subgroups of the additive group .
Torsion-free abelian groups of rank 1 have been completely classified. To do so one associates to a group a subset of the prime numbers, as follows: pick any , for a prime we say that if and only if for every . This does not depend on the choice of since for another there exists such that . Baer proved that is a complete isomorphism invariant for rank-1 torsion free abelian groups.
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In mathematics, specifically in abstract algebra, a torsion-free abelian group is an abelian group which has no non-trivial torsion elements; that is, a group in which the group operation is commutative and the identity element is the only element with finite order. While finitely generated abelian groups are completely classified, not much is known about infinitely generated abelian groups, even in the torsion-free countable case. Abelian group An abelian group is said to be torsion-free if no element other than the identity is of finite order.
In group theory, a branch of mathematics, a torsion group or a periodic group is a group in which every element has finite order. The exponent of such a group, if it exists, is the least common multiple of the orders of the elements. For example, it follows from Lagrange's theorem that every finite group is periodic and it has an exponent dividing its order. Examples of infinite periodic groups include the additive group of the ring of polynomials over a finite field, and the quotient group of the rationals by the integers, as well as their direct summands, the Prüfer groups.
In mathematics, specifically in ring theory, a torsion element is an element of a module that yields zero when multiplied by some non-zero-divisor of the ring. The torsion submodule of a module is the submodule formed by the torsion elements. A torsion module is a module that equals its torsion submodule. A module is torsion-free if its torsion submodule comprises only the zero element. This terminology is more commonly used for modules over a domain, that is, when the regular elements of the ring are all its nonzero elements.
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