Let GG be a and let N,H≤GN,H\le G be . One says that GG is the internal semidirect product of NN and HH if:

  1. NN is a ,
  2. N∩H={e}N\cap H=\{e\},
  3. NH=GNH=G.

Conjugation by elements of HH defines a homomorphism H→Aut⁡(N)H\to \operatorname{Aut}(N) (coming from the ), and with respect to this map one has an isomorphism

G≅N⋊H,G \cong N \rtimes H,

so internal semidirect products are precisely the internal realizations of .

Examples
  • S3S_3 is an internal semidirect product of A3A_3 (normal, order 33) and ⟨(12)⟩\langle(12)\rangle (order 22), hence S3≅C3⋊C2S_3\cong C_3\rtimes C_2.
  • D2nD_{2n} is an internal semidirect product of its rotation subgroup CnC_n and a reflection subgroup C2C_2.
  • If, in addition, HH is normal, then GG is an .