subgroups with coprime orders
If the orders of two subgroups of a group are coprime (http://planetmath.org/Coprime), the identity element
is the only common element of the subgroups.
Proof. Let and be such subgroups and and their orders. Then the intersection is a subgroup of both and . By Lagrange’s theorem, divides both and and consequently it divides also which is 1. Therefore , whence the intersection contains only the identity element.
Example. All subgroups
of order 2 of the symmetric group have only the identity element common with the sole subgroup
of order 3.