Definition
An abelian group G is divisible if and only if, for every positive integer n and every g in G, there exists y in G such that ny = g. An equivalent condition is: for any positive integer n, nG = G, since the existence of y for every n and g implies that nG ⊇ G, and in the other direction nG ⊆ G is true for every group. A third equivalent condition is that an abelian group G is divisible if and only if G is an injective object in the category of abelian groups; for this reason, a divisible group is sometimes called an injective group.
An abelian group is p-divisible for a prime p if for every positive integer n and every g in G, there exists y in G such that pny = g. Equivalently, an abelian group is p-divisible if and only if pG = G.
Read more about this topic: Divisible Group
Famous quotes containing the word definition:
“Perhaps the best definition of progress would be the continuing efforts of men and women to narrow the gap between the convenience of the powers that be and the unwritten charter.”
—Nadine Gordimer (b. 1923)
“... if, as women, we accept a philosophy of history that asserts that women are by definition assimilated into the male universal, that we can understand our past through a male lens—if we are unaware that women even have a history—we live our lives similarly unanchored, drifting in response to a veering wind of myth and bias.”
—Adrienne Rich (b. 1929)
“It’s a rare parent who can see his or her child clearly and objectively. At a school board meeting I attended . . . the only definition of a gifted child on which everyone in the audience could agree was “mine.””
—Jane Adams (20th century)