TITLE: Assume that $(G, \ast)$ is a group and that every element $a \in G$ satisfies $a \ast a = 1$. Show that $(G, \ast)$ is abelian.
QUESTION [7 upvotes]: Assume that $(G, \ast)$ is a group and that every element $a \in G$ satisfies $a \ast a = 1$. Show that $(G, \ast)$ is abelian.

To prove $(G,\ast)$ is abelian, we must show that it is commutative. Let $a,b \in G$. Then $a \ast b \in G$ and $(a \ast b) \ast (a \ast b) = 1$. Taking both sides of the preceding equality by $\ast (b \ast a)$, we obtain $\begin{align} (a \ast b) \ast (a \ast b) \ast (b \ast a) &= 1 \ast (b \ast a) \\ (a \ast b) \ast (a \ast (b \ast b) \ast a)&=\\(a \ast b) \ast (a \ast a)&= \\a \ast b &= b \ast a \end{align}$
Is this correct?

REPLY [5 votes]: Looks great! Here's another proof that uses the fact that for any $g,h \in G$, we have that:

$$
g * g = 1 \iff g = g^{-1} \tag 1
$$
  $$
(g * h)^{-1} = h^{-1} * g^{-1} \tag{2}
$$


Given any $a, b \in G$, observe that:
\begin{align*}
a * b
&= (a * b)^{-1} &\text{by (1), since } (a * b) * (a * b) = 1 \\
&= b^{-1} * a^{-1} &\text{by (2)} \\
&= b * a &\text{by (1), since } a * a = 1 = b * b \\
\end{align*}
as desired. $~~\blacksquare$