nLab
normal closure

Given a group G and a subset SG, the normal closure of S in G is the smallest subgroup containing the set of all conjugates of elements in S, i.e. the subgroup generated by the set of all elements of the form g 1sg, where gG and sS. The normal closure is clearly a normal subgroup of G.

The normal closure, also called conjugate closure (see Wikipedia), should be distinguished from the normalizer of S in G. In combinatorial group theory a group G is presented via specifying a set X of generators and a set R of relations. This means that G=F/N where F is the free group generated by X and N is the normal closure of R in F.

Revised on April 1, 2010 19:29:18 by Tim Porter (92.145.38.231)