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I have a question about Fraleigh book of abstract algebra, semidirect products and group action.

Is there any reason for Fraleigh to not include Semidirect products in his book? I have looked into some books and some of them include Semidirect products but not group action, and some other include group action but not semidirect products, some include both. My Abstract Algebra teacher said there is some kind of relation between both of that concepts, but she didn't want to tell me what kind of relation was for some books not to include one of them.

LeviathanTheEsper
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Fraleigh's book (red hardback with a shaded 3d polygon on the front right?) is an introduction.

A better example of a pure introduction book is: Fundamentals of Abstract Algebra by McCoy. This book is about 1.5x as thick as Fraleigh's and covers less, it is full of examples and questions.

To someone who knows the material the book is almost useless, but to someone trying to learn it the book is valuable.

Practicing topics helps bridge the gap from symbols on paper to what you will later call "intuition" and see naturally in your later work.

Introduction books are very deliberate about what they do and do not have, the order it is presented in and so forth.

If you start doing questions (use any search engine and look for "abstract algebra assignment pdf" or something) you may find you start to spot a link.

Alec Teal
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