LINEAR DIOPHANTINE

Historical notes:

Diophantus (c. 250) wrote the Arithmetica which is the earliest book on
algebra; it contains the first systematic use of mathematical notation to represent
unknowns in the equations and powers of these unknowns. Almost nothing is known
about Diophantus other than that he lived in Alexandria around 250 C.E.

Brahmagupta (586-670) thought to have been born in Ujjain, India became

the head of the astronomical observatory there; this observatory was the center of
Indian mathematical studies at that time. Brahmagupta wrote two important books on
mathematics and astronomy, Brahma-sphuta-siddhanta (“The Opening of the
Universe”) and Khandakhadyaka, writeen in 628 and 665, respectively.
He developed many interesting formulas and theorems in plane geometry, and
studied arithmetic progressions and quadratic equations. Brahmagupta
developed new algebraic notiation,and his understanding of the number system was
advanced for his time. In astronomy, he studied eclipses, positions of planets and
the lengths of the year.

If we require that solutions of a particular equation come from the set of integers, we
have a Diophantine equation. The equation ax + by = c, where a, b and c are integers is
called a linear Diophantine equation in two variables.

The first person to describe a general solution of linear Diophantine equations was the
Indian mathematician, Brahmagupta.

Theorem: Let a and b be integers with d = (a, b). The equation ax + by = c has no integral
solution if d does not divide c. If d | c, then there are infinitely many integral solutions. Moreover, if x = x0,
y = y0 is a particular solution of the equation, then all solutions are given by:
x = x0 + (b/d)t, y = y0 – (a/d)t
where t is an integer.

Examples:
1. Determine the general solution of the linear Diophantine equations:
(a) 11x + 27 y = 4
Solution:
d = (11, 27)
27 = 2(11) + 5 1 = 11 – 2(5)
11 = 2(5) + 1 = 11 – 2[27 – 2(11)]
5 = 5(1) + 0 = 11 – 2(27) + 4(11)
d=1 1 = 5(11) – 2(27)

Thus, 11(5) – 27(2) = 1 where a = 11 and b = 27

11(20) + 27(-8) = 4
Using the theorem,
x = 20 + (27/1)t y = -8 – (11/1)t
x = 20 + 27t y = -8 –11t
 If you are looking for the positive solution, 20 + 27t >0 and -8 – 11t >0.
We find t  -1 and t  -1.

(b) 39x + 26y = 105

a = 39, b = 26
Using the Euclidean Algorithm,
39 = 1(26) + 13
26 = 2(13) + 0
d = 13

Since 13 does not divide 105, then there is no solution.

(c) 14x + 22y = 50

2. A box contains beetles and spiders. There are 46 legs in the box. How many belong to beetles?

3. A man sold his sheep for $180 and his cows $290 each. He received a total of $2,890. How
many cows did he sell?
 CHINESE REMAINDER
Historical note:

Ch’in Chiu-Shao (1202–1261) Chinese mathematician. He pioneered in

the study of indeterminate analysis in his Mathematical Treatise in Nine Sections
of 1247. The text existed only in manuscript form for several centuries and still
has not been fully translated or investigated. Like many traditional Chinese
mathematical works, it reflects a Confucian administrator's concern
with calendrical, mensural, and fiscal problems.

According to D. Wells, the following problem was posed by Sun Tsu Suan-Ching (4th century AD):

“There are certain things whose number is unknown. Repeatedly divided by 3, the
remainder is 2; by 5 the remainder is 3; and by 7 the remainder is 2. What will be the
number?”

Oystein Ore mentions another puzzle with a dramatic element from Brahma-Sphuta-Siddhanta(Brahma's
Correct System) by Brahmagupta (born 598 AD):

“An old woman goes to market and a horse steps on her basket and crashes the eggs.
The rider offers to pay for the damages and asks her how many eggs she had brought.
She does not remember the exact number, but when she had taken them out two at a
time, there was one egg left. The same happened when she picked them out three, four,
five, and six at a time, but when she took them seven at a time they came out even. What
is the smallest number of eggs she could have had?”

Problems of this kind are all examples of what universally became known as the Chinese Remainder

Theorem: Chinese Remainder Theorem

Let m1, m2, ..., mr be pairwise relatively prime positive integers. Then the system of congruences
x  a1 (mod m1)
x  a2 (mod m2)
…
x  ar (mod mr)
has a unique solution modulo M = m1 m2 … mr.

Proof:
First, we construct a simultaneous solution to the system of congruences. To do this, let Mk = M/
mk = m1 m2 … mk-1 mk+1 … mr. We know that (Mk, mk) = 1 because (mj, mk) = 1 whenever j  k.
We can find an inverse yk of Mk modulo mk so that Mk yk  1 (mod mk). We now form the sum
x = a1 M1 y1 + a2 M2 y2 +… + ar Mr yr.

The integer x is a simultaneous solution of the congruences. To demonstrate this, we must show that x 
ak (mod mk) for k = 1, 2, …, r. Since mk | Mj whenever j  k, we have Mj  0 (mod mk). Therefore, in the
th
sum for x, all terms except the k term are congruent to 0 (mod mk). Hence, x  ak Mk yk = ak (mod mk),
since Mk yk  1 (mod mk). We now show that any two solutions are congruent modulo M. Let x0 and x1
both be simultaneous solutions to the system of r congruences. Then for each k, x0  x1  ak (mod mk),
so
that mk | (x0 – x1). We see that M | (x0 – x1). Therefore, x0  x1 (mod M). This shows that
the simultaneous solution of the system of r congruences is unique modulo M.

Example 1: To solve the system

x  1 (mod
3) x  2
(mod 5) x 
3 (mod 7)

We have M = 3  5  7 = 105. M1 = 105/3 = 35, M2 = 105/5 = 21, and M3 = 105/7 = 15. To determine
y1, we solve 35y1  1 (mod 3), or equivalently, 2y1  1 (mod 3). This yields y1  2 (mod 3). We find y2
by solving 21 y2  1 (mod 5); this immediately gives y2  1 (mod 5). Finally, we find y3 by solving 15 y3
 1 (mod 7). This gives y3  1 (mod 7). Hence,
x  1  35  2 + 2  21  1 + 3
15  1
x  157  52 (mod 105).

We can check that x satisfies this system of congruences whenever x  52 (mod 105) by noting that 52 
1 (mod 3), 52  2 (mod 5) and 52  3 (mod 7).

Example 2: To solve the system

x  2 (mod
3) x  3
(mod 5) x 
2 (mod 7)

Example 3: Find the smallest multiple of 10 which has a remainder of 2 when divided by 3,
and remainder of 3 when divided by 7.
x  2 (mod
3) x  3
(mod 7) x 
0 (mod 2) x 
0 (mod 5)

Example 4: A troop of 17 monkeys store their bananas in 11 piles of equal size with a twelfth pile of
6 leftover. When they divide the bananas into 17 equal groups, none remain. What is the smallest
number of bananas they can have?
Ans. 204