Scribd
Upload
16 views3 pages

Lec06 FTA

The document summarizes the fundamental theorem of arithmetic. [1] It states that every integer greater than 1 can be uniquely expressed as a product of prime numbers. [2] The proof involves showing that if a number has two distinct prime factorizations, it would violate the lemma that a prime number must divide one of the factors. [3] Applications of the theorem include determining the divisors of a number from its prime factorization and formulas for the greatest common divisor and least common multiple of two numbers.

Uploaded by

James Mlotshwa
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
16 views3 pages

Lec06 FTA

The document summarizes the fundamental theorem of arithmetic. [1] It states that every integer greater than 1 can be uniquely expressed as a product of prime numbers. [2] The proof involves showing that if a number has two distinct prime factorizations, it would violate the lemma that a prime number must divide one of the factors. [3] Applications of the theorem include determining the divisors of a number from its prime factorization and formulas for the greatest common divisor and least common multiple of two numbers.

Uploaded by

James Mlotshwa
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

Lec06: The Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic

07 March 2023, MATH4024-Number Theory, Lecturer: Prof A. Munagi

1 The Fundamental Theorem


Recall that Euclid’s Lemma (Lec03, Theorem 1.4) states that

a|bc and (a, b) = 1 =⇒ a|c. (1)

Lemma 1.1. If p|a1 a2 · · · an , where p is prime and a1 , a2 , · · · , an ∈ Z+ , then p|ai for


some i.
Proof. By induction on n. The case n = 1 is obvious. Assume the result is true for n
and consider the product of n + 1 integers a1 a2 · · · an an+1 . We know that

(p, a1 a2 · · · an ) = 1 or (p, a1 a2 · · · an ) = p.

If (p, a1 a2 · · · an ) = 1, then by Euclid’s Lemma p|an+1 . But if (p, a1 a2 · · · an ) = p, then


by the inductive hypothesis ∃ i such that p|ai , 1 ≤ i ≤ n.
Consequently, p|ai for some i.

Exercise 1. Let a, b1 , b2 , . . . , bk ∈ Z such that (a, bi ) = 1 for all i. Prove that


(a, b1 b2 · · · bk ) = 1.

Theorem 1.2 (Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic). Every integer > 1 can be ex-
pressed uniquely as a product of primes, with the prime factors in nondecreasing order.
Proof. By Theorem 1.1, Lec04, any integer n > 1 is either a prime or a product of
primes.
We now prove uniqueness. Suppose n has two different factorizations.
If n is prime the assertion is obviously true. So assume that n is composite and

n = p1 p 2 · · · p s = q1 q 2 · · · qt ,

1
Prof A. Munagi Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic MATH4024-Number Theory

where p1 , . . . , ps , q1 , . . . , qt are primes, with p1 ≤ · · · ≤ ps and q1 ≤ · · · ≤ qt . Remove all


common primes from the two factorizations to obtain

pi1 pi2 · · · piu = qj1 qj2 · · · qjr , u ≥ 1, v ≥ 1,

where the primes on the left side differ from those on the right.
However, this leads to a contradiction of Lemma 1.1 since pi1 must divide qjk for
some k which is impossible. This is because qjk is prime and is different from pi1 .
Hence the prime factorization is unique.

Remark 1. Every positive integer n may be written as a product of primes, called the
“prime factorization of n” or the “prime-power factorization of n”:

n = q1 q2 · · · , qv , q1 ≤ q2 ≤ · · · ≤ qv ;

or
n = pn1 1 pn2 2 · · · pnk k , p1 < p2 < · · · < pk , 1 ≤ k ≤ v, ni ≥ 1 ∀ i.

Examples. 240 = 2 · 2 · 2 · 2 · 3 · 5 = 24 · 3 · 5, 289 = 172 , 1001 = 7 · 11 · 13.

Remark 2. The integer 1 may be expressed as a product of the empty set of primes:

1 = p0 or 1 = p01 p02 · · · p0k , k > 1.

Remark 3. By Theorem 1.2 the ring of integers Z = {. . . , −2, −1, 0, 1, 2, . . .} has the
unique factorization property.
Another unique factorization domain is the ring of Gaussian integers:
√ √
Z[ −1] = {a + b −1 | a, b ∈ Z}.
√ √
But unique factorization fails in the√ring Z[ √−5] = {a + b −5 | a, b ∈ Z}. For
example, we have√6 = 2 · 3 = √ (1 + −5)(1 − −5), and it can be proved that the
numbers 2, 3, 1 + −5 and 1 − −5 are primes in this ring.

2 Applications of the Fundamental Theorem


The student should verify each of the following statements and deductions.

(1) Divisors. Let n > 1 have the prime-power factorization

n = pn1 1 pn2 2 · · · pnk k , ai > 0 ∀ i.

The set of positive divisors of n is the set of numbers of the form

pc11 pc22 · · · pckk , 0 ≤ ci ≤ ni ∀ i.

2
Prof A. Munagi Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic MATH4024-Number Theory

For example, 504 = 23 · 32 · 7. So if d|504, then d = 2c1 · 3c2 · 7c3 , where 0 ≤ c1 ≤ 3, 0 ≤


c2 ≤ 2, 0 ≤ c3 ≤ 1. Thus 3|504 and 3 = 20 · 31 · 70 ; also 56|504 and 56 = 23 · 30 · 7; etc.

(2) GCD and LCM. Let two positive integers a, b have the prime factorizations:

a = pa11 · · · pakk , b = pb11 · · · pbkk ,

where ai ≥ 0, bi ≥ 0. Then
min(a1 ,b1 ) min(a2 ,b2 ) min(ak ,bk )
(a, b) = p1 p2 · · · pk

and
max(a1 ,b1 ) max(a2 ,b2 ) max(ak ,bk )
[a, b] = p1 p2 · · · pk .

(3) Proofs. Many proof problems that involve products of integers, including GCD
and LCM, can usually be settled in a straightforward manner using the Fundamental
theorem of Arithmetic.

Exercise 2. Use statement (1) to prove that the number τ (n) of positive divisors of n
is given by τ (n) = (n1 + 1)(n2 + 1) · · · (nk + 1).

Exercise 3. (a) Show that min(x, y) + max(x, y) = x + y for any real numbers x, y.
ab
(b) Use Statement (2) and part (a) to prove that [a, b] = .
(a, b)
[compare with Lec03 Theorem 1.3.]

You might also like