Give an example of a noncyclic Abelian group all of whose proper subgroups are cyclic.

I've tried but I could not find a noncyclic Abelian group all of whose proper subgroups are cyclic. please help me.


The simplest possible example of this would be $\mathbb{Z}/2\mathbb{Z} \times \mathbb{Z}/2\mathbb{Z}$, as this is abelian and is the smallest group which is not cyclic. It is also known as the Klein four-group.


The first example that came to mind, probably because I've spent so much time with it lately, is $\mathbb{Z}(p^{\infty})$, which is of course isomorphic to the group of all $p^n$-th roots of unity, $n=0,1,2, \ldots$. What I've always liked about this group is that all proper subgroups are finite as well as cyclic, while the group itself is infinite and non-cyclic. Plainly, the other examples are far simpler. Let this be a lesson to the OP: learn enough mathematics and you may easily overlook simple examples.