mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

and

group theory In abstract algebra, group theory studies the algebraic structures known as group (mathematics), groups. The concept of a group is central to abstract algebra: other well-known algebraic structures, such as ring (mathematics), rings, field ...

, the term multiplicative group refers to one of the following concepts: *the

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic ide ...

under multiplication of the

invertible In mathematics, the concept of an inverse element generalises the concepts of opposite () and reciprocal () of numbers. Given an operation denoted here , and an identity element denoted , if , one says that is a left inverse of , and that is ...

elements of a

field Field may refer to: Expanses of open ground * Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes * Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport * Battlefield * Lawn, an area of mowed grass * Meadow, a grass ...

ring Ring may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell :(hence) to initiate a telephone connection Arts, entertainment and media Film and ...

, or other structure for which one of its operations is referred to as multiplication. In the case of a field ''F'', the group is , where 0 refers to the

zero element In mathematics, a zero element is one of several generalizations of the number zero to other algebraic structures. These alternate meanings may or may not reduce to the same thing, depending on the context. Additive identities An additive identi ...

of ''F'' and the

binary operation In mathematics, a binary operation or dyadic operation is a rule for combining two elements (called operands) to produce another element. More formally, a binary operation is an operation of arity two. More specifically, an internal binary op ...

• is the field

multiplication Multiplication (often denoted by the cross symbol , by the mid-line dot operator , by juxtaposition, or, on computers, by an asterisk ) is one of the four elementary mathematical operations of arithmetic, with the other ones being additi ...

, *the

algebraic torus In mathematics, an algebraic torus, where a one dimensional torus is typically denoted by \mathbf G_, \mathbb_m, or \mathbb, is a type of commutative affine algebraic group commonly found in projective algebraic geometry and toric geometry. Higher ...

GL(1)..

Examples

*The multiplicative group of integers modulo ''n'' is the group under multiplication of the invertible elements of

\mathbb/n\mathbb

. When ''n'' is not prime, there are elements other than zero that are not invertible. * The multiplicative group of

positive real numbers In mathematics, the set of positive real numbers, \R_ = \left\, is the subset of those real numbers that are greater than zero. The non-negative real numbers, \R_ = \left\, also include zero. Although the symbols \R_ and \R^ are ambiguously used fo ...

\mathbb^+

is an

abelian group In mathematics, an abelian group, also called a commutative group, is a group in which the result of applying the group operation to two group elements does not depend on the order in which they are written. That is, the group operation is commut ...

with 1 its

identity element In mathematics, an identity element, or neutral element, of a binary operation operating on a set is an element of the set that leaves unchanged every element of the set when the operation is applied. This concept is used in algebraic structures su ...

. The

logarithm In mathematics, the logarithm is the inverse function to exponentiation. That means the logarithm of a number to the base is the exponent to which must be raised, to produce . For example, since , the ''logarithm base'' 10 o ...

is a

group isomorphism In abstract algebra, a group isomorphism is a function between two groups that sets up a one-to-one correspondence between the elements of the groups in a way that respects the given group operations. If there exists an isomorphism between two grou ...

of this group to the

additive group An additive group is a group of which the group operation is to be thought of as ''addition'' in some sense. It is usually abelian, and typically written using the symbol + for its binary operation. This terminology is widely used with structure ...

of real numbers,

\mathbb

. * The multiplicative group of a field

F

is the set of all nonzero elements:

F^\times = F -\

, under the multiplication operation. If

F

finite Finite is the opposite of infinite. It may refer to: * Finite number (disambiguation) * Finite set, a set whose cardinality (number of elements) is some natural number * Finite verb, a verb form that has a subject, usually being inflected or marke ...

of order ''q'' (for example ''q'' = ''p'' a prime, and

F = \mathbb F_p=\mathbb Z/p\mathbb Z

), then the

multiplicative group In mathematics and group theory, the term multiplicative group refers to one of the following concepts: *the group under multiplication of the invertible elements of a field, ring, or other structure for which one of its operations is referre ...

is cyclic:

F^\times \cong C_

Group scheme of roots of unity

The group scheme of ''n''-th

roots of unity In mathematics, a root of unity, occasionally called a de Moivre number, is any complex number that yields 1 when raised to some positive integer power . Roots of unity are used in many branches of mathematics, and are especially important in ...

is by definition the kernel of the ''n''-power map on the multiplicative group GL(1), considered as a

group scheme In mathematics, a group scheme is a type of object from Algebraic geometry, algebraic geometry equipped with a composition law. Group schemes arise naturally as symmetries of Scheme (mathematics), schemes, and they generalize algebraic groups, in ...

. That is, for any integer ''n'' > 1 we can consider the morphism on the multiplicative group that takes ''n''-th powers, and take an appropriate

fiber product of schemes In mathematics, specifically in algebraic geometry, the fiber product of schemes is a fundamental construction. It has many interpretations and special cases. For example, the fiber product describes how an algebraic variety over one field determin ...

, with the morphism ''e'' that serves as the identity. The resulting group scheme is written μ_''n'' (or

\mu\!\!\mu_n

). It gives rise to a

reduced scheme This is a glossary of algebraic geometry. See also glossary of commutative algebra, glossary of classical algebraic geometry, and glossary of ring theory. For the number-theoretic applications, see glossary of arithmetic and Diophantine geometry. ...

, when we take it over a field ''K'',

if and only if In logic and related fields such as mathematics and philosophy, "if and only if" (shortened as "iff") is a biconditional logical connective between statements, where either both statements are true or both are false. The connective is bicondi ...

the characteristic of ''K'' does not divide ''n''. This makes it a source of some key examples of non-reduced schemes (schemes with

nilpotent element In mathematics, an element x of a ring R is called nilpotent if there exists some positive integer n, called the index (or sometimes the degree), such that x^n=0. The term was introduced by Benjamin Peirce in the context of his work on the cla ...

s in their structure sheaves); for example μ_''p'' over a

finite field In mathematics, a finite field or Galois field (so-named in honor of Évariste Galois) is a field that contains a finite number of elements. As with any field, a finite field is a set on which the operations of multiplication, addition, subtr ...

with ''p'' elements for any

prime number A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only ways ...

''p''. This phenomenon is not easily expressed in the classical language of algebraic geometry. For example, it turns out to be of major importance in expressing the

duality theory of abelian varieties In mathematics, a dual abelian variety can be defined from an abelian variety ''A'', defined over a field ''K''. Definition To an abelian variety ''A'' over a field ''k'', one associates a dual abelian variety ''A''v (over the same field), which i ...

in characteristic ''p'' (theory of Pierre Cartier). The Galois cohomology of this group scheme is a way of expressing

Kummer theory In abstract algebra and number theory, Kummer theory provides a description of certain types of field extensions involving the adjunction of ''n''th roots of elements of the base field. The theory was originally developed by Ernst Eduard Kummer ar ...

Notes

References

Michiel Hazewinkel Michiel Hazewinkel (born 22 June 1943) is a Dutch mathematician, and Emeritus Professor of Mathematics at the Centre for Mathematics and Computer Science and the University of Amsterdam, particularly known for his 1978 book ''Formal groups and a ...

, Nadiya Gubareni, Nadezhda Mikhaĭlovna Gubareni, Vladimir V. Kirichenko. ''Algebras, rings and modules''. Volume 1. 2004. Springer, 2004.