Talk:Torsion subgroup

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[edit] Why “torsion”?

Why is this called “torsion”? My only guess is that it has something to do with what happens to y = xⁿ around x = 1 as —that is, the line twists about y = x = 1, the only element with finite order. Is that even close? —Ben FrantzDale 03:58, 25 January 2007 (UTC)

I would guess (but it's only a guess) that it comes from simplicial homology, where the "torsion coefficients" in some sense represent the twisting of the simplicial complex. The idea of using homology groups came later, and the torsion coefficients correspond to the torsion subgroups of the homology groups. --Zundark 12:08, 25 January 2007 (UTC)