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Free Abelian Group


A free Abelian group is a group G with a subset which generates the group G with the only relation being ab=ba. That is, it has no group torsion. All such groups are a direct product of the integers Z, and have rank given by the number of copies of Z. For example, Z*Z={(n,m)} is a free Abelian group of rank 2. A minimal subset b_1, ..., b_n that generates a free Abelian group is called a basis, and gives G as

 G=Zb_1+...+Zb_n.

A free Abelian group is an Abelian group, but is not a free group (except when it has rank one, i.e., Z). Free Abelian groups are the free modules in the case when the ring is the ring of integers Z.


See also

Abelian Group, Free Group, Free Module, Free Product, Group, Group Torsion

This entry contributed by Todd Rowland

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Cite this as:

Rowland, Todd. "Free Abelian Group." From MathWorld--A Wolfram Web Resource, created by Eric W. Weisstein. https://mathworld.wolfram.com/FreeAbelianGroup.html

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