Properties of Groups Seen in Cayley Tables

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The following is a simple exercise from "Guide to Abstract Algebra 1st Ed Carol Whitehead".


Problem 6.2b.1

The following is part of a Cayley table for a group $G = {a,b,c,d}$, with respect to operation $\circ$.

$$ \begin{array}{l|*{4}{lr}} \circ & a & b & c & d \\ \hline a & c & \cdot & \cdot & \cdot \\ b & \cdot & \cdot & \cdot & a \\ c & \cdot & \cdot & \cdot & d \\ d & \cdot & \cdot & \cdot & \cdot \\ \end{array} $$

(a) Which is the identity element of $(G,\circ)$?

(b) Show that there is only one way to fill the rest o the table, justifying each step. Note: You are not required to verify that $\circ$ is associative.


My Solution Attempt:

(a) We can see $c \circ d =d$, so the identity element is $c$.

(b) Since $c$ is the identity, we can fill in the $c$ rows and columns.

$$ \begin{array}{l|*{4}{lr}} \circ & a & b & c & d \\ \hline a & c & \cdot & a & \cdot \\ b & \cdot & \cdot & b & a \\ c & a & b & c & d \\ d & \cdot & \cdot & d & \cdot \\ \end{array} $$

I know also from an earlier theorem in the book that each element of a group appears only once in each row or column.

Looking at $a \circ b$, this could be $b$ or $d$ if we note that $c$ and $a$ are already in that row. But $b$ is already in that column so $a \circ b$ must only be $d$.

Following this logic gives us the following:

$$ \begin{array}{l|*{4}{lr}} \circ & a & b & c & d \\ \hline a & c & d & a & b \\ b & d & c & b & a \\ c & a & b & c & d \\ d & b & a & d & c \\ \end{array} $$

My Question: Is this correct?

I notice that in Cayley tables for groups, the rows and columns always follow a single order, or its reverse. That is $a,b,c,d$ or $d, c, b, a$ but never something like $a, d, c, b$. Additional Question: What is the reason for this?