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## Chapter 15 Group Theory and Applications

## alternating group

\(N\) objects are ordered, and you
Switch consecutive pairs two by two.
All reorders you get
Will comprise a new set
Called an alternating group when you're through.
Chris Doyle, The Omnificent English Dictionary In Limerick Form

In Chapter 11, we introduced groups as a typical algebraic system. The associated concepts of subgroup, group isomorphism, and direct products of groups were also introduced. Groups were chosen for that chapter because they are among the simplest types of algebraic systems. Despite this simplicity, group theory abounds with interesting applications. In this chapter we will introduce some more important concepts in elementary group theory, and some of their applications.