# Divisible group

In group theory, a divisible group is an abelian group G such that for any positive integer n and any g in G, there exists y in G such that ny = g. One can show that G is divisible if and only if G is an injective object in the category of Z-modules (abelian groups).

## Structure theorem of divisible groups

Let G be a divisible group. One can easily see that the torsion subgroup Tor(G) of G is divisible. Since a divisible group is an injective module, Tor(G) is a direct summand of G. So

[itex]G = Tor(G) \oplus G/Tor(G)[itex].

As a quotient of a divisible group, G/Tor(G) is divisible. Moreover, it is torsion free. Thus, it is a vector space over Q and so there exists a set I such that

[itex]G = \oplus_{i \in I} Q = Q^{(I)}[itex].

The structure of the torsion subgroup is harder to determine, but one can show that for all prime numbers p there exists [itex]I_p[itex] such that

[itex](Tor(G))_p = \oplus_{i \in I_p} Z[p^\infty] = Z[p^\infty]^{(I_p)},[itex]

where [itex](Tor(G))_p[itex] is the p-primary component of Tor(G).

Thus, if P is the set of prime numbers,

[itex]G = (\oplus_{p \in P} Z[p^\infty]^{(I_p)}) \oplus Q^{(I)}[itex].

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