Cayley table for D4 showing elements of the center, {e, a2}, commute with all other elements (this can be seen by noticing that all occurrences of a given center element are arranged symmetrically about the center diagonal or by noticing that the row and column starting with a given center element are transposes of each other).
A group G is abelian if and only if Z(G) = G. At the other extreme, a group is said to be centerless if Z(G) is trivial; i.e., consists only of the identity element.
The elements of the center are sometimes called central.
As a subgroupedit
The center of G is always a subgroup of G. In particular:
Z(G) contains the identity element of G, because it commutes with every element of g, by definition: eg = g = ge, where e is the identity;
If x and y are in Z(G), then so is xy, by associativity: (xy)g = x(yg) = x(gy) = (xg)y = (gx)y = g(xy) for each g ∈ G; i.e., Z(G) is closed;
If x is in Z(G), then so is x−1 as, for all g in G, x−1 commutes with g: (gx = xg) ⇒ (x−1gxx−1 = x−1xgx−1) ⇒ (x−1g = gx−1).
Furthermore, the center of G is always an abelian and normal subgroup of G. Since all elements of Z(G) commute, it is closed under conjugation.
Note that a homomorphism f: G → H between groups generally does not restrict to a homomorphism between their centers. Although f (Z (G)) commutes with f ( G ), unless f is surjective f (Z (G)) need not commute with all of H and therefore need not be a subset of Z ( H ). Put another way, there is no "center" functor between categories Grp and Ab. Even though we can map objects, we cannot map arrows.
Conjugacy classes and centralizersedit
By definition, the center is the set of elements for which the conjugacy class of each element is the element itself; i.e., Cl(g) = {g}.
The center is also the intersection of all the centralizers of each element of G. As centralizers are subgroups, this again shows that the center is a subgroup.
Conjugationedit
Consider the map, f: G → Aut(G), from G to the automorphism group of G defined by f(g) = ϕg, where ϕg is the automorphism of G defined by
The center of the dihedral group, Dn, is trivial for odd n ≥ 3. For even n ≥ 4, the center consists of the identity element together with the 180° rotation of the polygon.
The center of the quaternion group, Q8 = {1, −1, i, −i, j, −j, k, −k}, is {1, −1}.
The center of the symmetric group, Sn, is trivial for n ≥ 3.
The center of the Rubik's Cube group consists of two elements – the identity (i.e. the solved state) and the superflip. The center of the Pocket Cube group is trivial.
The center of the Megaminx group has order 2, and the center of the Kilominx group is trivial.
Higher centersedit
Quotienting out by the center of a group yields a sequence of groups called the upper central series:
(G0 = G) ⟶ (G1 = G0/Z(G0)) ⟶ (G2 = G1/Z(G1)) ⟶ ⋯
The kernel of the map G → Gi is the ith center[1] of G (second center, third center, etc.) and is denoted Zi(G).[2] Concretely, the (i + 1)-st center are the terms that commute with all elements up to an element of the ith center. Following this definition, one can define the 0th center of a group to be the identity subgroup. This can be continued to transfinite ordinals by transfinite induction; the union of all the higher centers is called the hypercenter.[note 1]
stabilizes at i (equivalently, Zi(G) = Zi+1(G)) if and only ifGi is centerless.
Examplesedit
For a centerless group, all higher centers are zero, which is the case Z0(G) = Z1(G) of stabilization.
By Grün's lemma, the quotient of a perfect group by its center is centerless, hence all higher centers equal the center. This is a case of stabilization at Z1(G) = Z2(G).
^Ellis, Graham (February 1, 1998). "On groups with a finite nilpotent upper central quotient". Archiv der Mathematik. 70 (2): 89–96. doi:10.1007/s000130050169. ISSN 1420-8938.
^Ellis, Graham (February 1, 1998). "On groups with a finite nilpotent upper central quotient". Archiv der Mathematik. 70 (2): 89–96. doi:10.1007/s000130050169. ISSN 1420-8938.