Example
An in Sn
SLn(R) in GLn(R)
The center of a group
Subgroups of commutative groups
If h is even, then ghg-1 is an
even element in Sn for every g.
So An is normal in
Sn.
If det(A) = 1, then for every invertible matrix B,
the product BAB-1 has determinant 1.
Hence SLn(R) is normal in GLn(R).
The center of a group is a normal subgroup since all its elements commute with
every element in the group.
Suppose that
G is a commutative group and
H is a subgroup.
Then for every
g
G
and
h
H,
we have
ghg-1 =
h,
so
H is a normal subgroup of
G.
This shows that every subgroup of a commutative group is normal.