Chapter 4

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Chapter Motivation
 Number theory is the part of mathematics devoted to the study
of the integers and their properties.
 Key ideas in number theory include divisibility and the primality
of integers.
 Representations of integers, including binary and hexadecimal
representations, are part of number theory.
 Number theory has long been studied because of the beauty of
its ideas, its accessibility, and its wealth of open questions.
 We’ll use many ideas developed in Chapter 1 about proof
methods and proof strategy in our exploration of number theory.
 Mathematicians have long considered number theory to be pure
mathematics, but it has important applications to computer
science and cryptography studied in Sections 4.5 and 4.6.
Chapter Summary
 Divisibility and Modular Arithmetic
 Integer Representations and Algorithms
 Primes and Greatest Common Divisors
 Solving Congruences
 Applications of Congruences
 Cryptography
Section 4.1
Section Summary
 Division
 Division Algorithm
 Modular Arithmetic
Division
Definition: If a and b are integers with a ≠ 0, then
a divides b if there exists an integer c such that b = ac.
 When a divides b we say that a is a factor or divisor of b
and that b is a multiple of a.
 The notation a | b denotes that a divides b.
 If a | b, then b/a is an integer.
 If a does not divide b, we write a ∤ b.
Example: Determine whether 3 | 7 and whether
3 | 12.
Properties of Divisibility
Theorem 1: Let a, b, and c be integers, where a ≠0.
i. If a | b and a | c, then a | (b + c);
ii. If a | b, then a | bc for all integers c;
iii. If a | b and b | c, then a | c.
Proof: (i) Suppose a | b and a | c, then it follows that there
are integers s and t with b = as and c = at. Hence,
b + c = as + at = a(s + t). Hence, a | (b + c)
Corollary: If a, b, and c be integers, where a ≠0, such
that a | b and a | c, then a | mb + nc whenever m and n
are integers.
Division Algorithm
 When an integer is divided by a positive integer, there is a quotient and
a remainder. This is traditionally called the “Division Algorithm,” but is
really a theorem.
Division Algorithm: If a is an integer and d a positive integer, then
there are unique integers q and r, with 0 ≤ r < d, such that a = dq + r
(proved in Section 5.2). Definitions of Functions
 d is called the divisor.
div and mod
 a is called the dividend.
 q is called the quotient.
 r is called the remainder. q = a div d
Examples: r = a mod d
 What are the quotient and remainder when 101 is divided by 11?
Solution: The quotient when 101 is divided by 11 is 9 = 101 div 11, and the
remainder is 2 = 101 mod 11.
 What are the quotient and remainder when −11 is divided by 3?
Solution: The quotient when −11 is divided by 3 is −4 = −11 div 3, and the
remainder is 1 = −11 mod 3.
Congruence Relation
Definition: If a and b are integers and m is a positive integer, then a is
congruent to b modulo m if m divides a – b.
 The notation a ≡ b (mod m) says that a is congruent to b modulo m.
 We say that a ≡ b (mod m) is a congruence and that m is its modulus.
 Two integers are congruent mod m if and only if they have the same
remainder when divided by m.
 If a is not congruent to b modulo m, we write
a ≢ b (mod m)
Example: Determine whether 17 is congruent to 5 modulo 6 and
whether 24 and 14 are congruent modulo 6.

Solution:
 17 ≡ 5 (mod 6) because 6 divides 17 − 5 = 12.
 24 ≢ 14 (mod 6) since 24 − 14 = 10 is not divisible by 6.
More on Congruences
Theorem 4: Let m be a positive integer. The integers a
and b are congruent modulo m if and only if there is
an integer k such that a = b + km.
Proof:
 If a ≡ b (mod m), then (by the definition of
congruence) m | a – b. Hence, there is an integer k such
that a – b = km and equivalently a = b + km.
 Conversely, if there is an integer k such that a = b + km,
then km = a – b. Hence, m | a – b and a ≡ b (mod m).
The Relationship between
(mod m) and mod m Notations
 The use of “mod” in a ≡ b (mod m) and a mod m = b
are different.
 a ≡ b (mod m) is a relation on the set of integers.
 In a mod m = b, the notation mod denotes a function.
 The relationship between these notations is made
clear in this theorem.
 Theorem 3: Let a and b be integers, and let m be a
positive integer. Then a ≡ b (mod m) if and only if
a mod m = b mod m.
Congruences of Sums and Products
Theorem 5: Let m be a positive integer. If a ≡ b (mod m) and c
≡ d (mod m), then
a + c ≡ b + d (mod m) and ac ≡ bd (mod m)
Proof:
 Because a ≡ b (mod m) and c ≡ d (mod m), by Theorem 4 there
are integers s and t with b = a + sm and d = c + tm.
 Therefore,
 b + d = (a + sm) + (c + tm) = (a + c) + m(s + t) and
 b d = (a + sm) (c + tm) = ac + m(at + cs + stm).
 Hence, a + c ≡ b + d (mod m) and ac ≡ bd (mod m).
Example: Because 7 ≡ 2 (mod 5) and 11 ≡ 1 (mod 5) , it
follows from Theorem 5 that
18 = 7 + 11 ≡ 2 + 1 = 3 (mod 5)
77 = 7 ∙ 11 ≡ 2 ∙ 1 = 2 (mod 5)
Algebraic Manipulation of Congruences
 Multiplying both sides of a valid congruence by an integer
preserves validity.
If a ≡ b (mod m) holds then c∙a ≡ c∙b (mod m), where c is any
integer, holds by Theorem 5 with d = c.
 Adding an integer to both sides of a valid congruence preserves
validity.
If a ≡ b (mod m) holds then c + a ≡ c + b (mod m), where c is any
integer, holds by Theorem 5 with d = c.
 Dividing a congruence by an integer does not always produce a
valid congruence.
Example: The congruence 14≡ 8 (mod 6) holds. But dividing
both sides by 2 does not produce a valid congruence since
14/2 = 7 and 8/2 = 4, but 7≢4 (mod 6).
Computing the mod m Function of
Products and Sums
 We use the following corollary to Theorem 5 to
compute the remainder of the product or sum of two
integers when divided by m from the remainders when
each is divided by m.
Corollary: Let m be a positive integer and let a and b
be integers. Then
(a + b) (mod m) = ((a mod m) + (b mod m)) mod m
and
ab mod m = ((a mod m) (b mod m)) mod m.
Arithmetic Modulo m
Definitions: Let Zm be the set of nonnegative integers less
than m: {0,1, …., m−1}
 The operation +m is defined as a +m b = (a + b) mod m.
This is addition modulo m.
 The operation ∙m is defined as a ∙m b = (a ∙ b) mod m. This
is multiplication modulo m.
 Using these operations is said to be doing arithmetic
modulo m.
Example: Find 7 +11 9 and 7 ∙11 9.
Solution: Using the definitions above:
 7 +11 9 = (7 + 9) mod 11 = 16 mod 11 = 5
 7 ∙11 9 = (7 ∙ 9) mod 11 = 63 mod 11 = 8
Arithmetic Modulo m
 The operations +m and ∙m satisfy many of the same properties as
ordinary addition and multiplication.
 Closure: If a and b belong to Zm , then a +m b and a ∙m b belong
to Zm .
 Associativity: If a, b, and c belong to Zm , then
(a +m b) +m c = a +m (b +m c) and (a ∙m b) ∙m c = a ∙m (b ∙m c).
 Commutativity: If a and b belong to Zm , then
a +m b = b +m a and a ∙m b = b ∙m a.
 Identity elements: The elements 0 and 1 are identity elements
for addition and multiplication modulo m, respectively.
 If a belongs to Zm , then a +m 0 = a and a ∙m 1 = a.

continued →
Arithmetic Modulo m
 Additive inverses: If a≠ 0 belongs to Zm , then m− a is the additive
inverse of a modulo m and 0 is its own additive inverse.
 a +m (m− a ) = 0 and 0 +m 0 = 0

 Distributivity: If a, b, and c belong to Zm , then

 a ∙m (b +m c) = (a ∙m b) +m (a ∙m c) and
(a +m b) ∙m c = (a ∙m c) +m (b ∙m c).

 Multiplicatative inverses have not been included since they do not

always exist. For example, there is no multiplicative inverse of 2 modulo
6.
Section 4.3
Section Summary
 Prime Numbers and their Properties
 Conjectures and Open Problems About Primes
 Greatest Common Divisors and Least Common
Multiples
 The Euclidian Algorithm
 gcds as Linear Combinations
Primes
Definition: A positive integer p greater than 1 is
called prime if the only positive factors of p are 1 and
p. A positive integer that is greater than 1 and is not
prime is called composite.

Example: The integer 7 is prime because its only

positive factors are 1 and 7, but 9 is composite
because it is divisible by 3.
The Fundamental Theorem of
Arithmetic
Theorem: Every positive integer greater than 1 can be
written uniquely as a prime or as the product of two or
more primes where the prime factors are written in
order of nondecreasing size.
Examples:
 100 = 2 ∙ 2 ∙ 5 ∙ 5 = 22 ∙ 52
 641 = 641
 999 = 3 ∙ 3 ∙ 3 ∙ 37 = 33 ∙ 37
 1024 = 2 ∙ 2 ∙ 2 ∙ 2 ∙ 2 ∙ 2 ∙ 2 ∙ 2 ∙ 2 ∙ 2 = 210
 Erastothenes
(276-194 B.C.)

The Sieve of Erastosthenes

 The Sieve of Erastosthenes can be used to find all primes
not exceeding a specified positive integer. For example,
begin with the list of integers between 1 and 100.
a. Delete all the integers, other than 2, divisible by 2.
b. Delete all the integers, other than 3, divisible by 3.
c. Next, delete all the integers, other than 5, divisible by 5.
d. Next, delete all the integers, other than 7, divisible by 7.
e. Since all the remaining integers are not divisible by any of
the previous integers, other than 1, the primes are:
{2,3,5,7,11,13,17,19,23,29,31,37,41,43,47,53,
59,61,67,71,73,79,83,89, 97}
continued →
The Sieve of Erastosthenes
If an integer n is a
composite integer, then it
has a prime divisor less than
or equal to √n.

To see this, note that if n =

ab, then a ≤ √n or b ≤√n.

Trial division, a very

inefficient method of
determining if a number n
is prime, is to try every
integer i ≤√n and see if n is
divisible by i.
Infinitude of Primes Euclid
(325 B.C.E. – 265 B.C.E.)

Theorem: There are infinitely many primes. (Euclid)

Proof: Assume finitely many primes: p1, p2, ….., pn
 Let q = p1p2∙∙∙ pn + 1
 Either q is prime or by the fundamental theorem of arithmetic it is a
product of primes.
 But none of the primes pj divides q since if pj | q, then pj divides
q − p1p2∙∙∙ pn = 1 .
 Hence, there is a prime not on the list p1, p2, ….., pn. It is either q, or if q is
composite, it is a prime factor of q. This contradicts the assumption that
p1, p2, ….., pn are all the primes.
 Consequently, there are infinitely many primes.
 Marin Mersenne
(1588-1648)

Mersene Primes
Definition: Prime numbers of the form 2p − 1 , where p is
prime, are called Mersene primes.
 22 − 1 = 3, 23 − 1 = 7, 25 − 1 = 37 , and 27 − 1 = 127 are
Mersene primes.
 211 − 1 = 2047 is not a Mersene prime since 2047 = 23∙89.
 There is an efficient test for determining if 2p − 1 is prime.
 The largest known prime numbers are Mersene primes.
 As of mid 2011, 47 Mersene primes were known, the largest
is 243,112,609 − 1, which has nearly 13 million decimal digits.
 The Great Internet Mersene Prime Search (GIMPS) is a
distributed computing project to search for new Mersene
Primes.
http://www.mersenne.org/
Distribution of Primes
 Mathematicians have been interested in the distribution of
prime numbers among the positive integers. In the
nineteenth century, the prime number theorem was proved
which gives an asymptotic estimate for the number of
primes not exceeding x.
Prime Number Theorem: The ratio of the number of
primes not exceeding x and x/ln x approaches 1 as x grows
without bound. (ln x is the natural logarithm of x)
 The theorem tells us that the number of primes not exceeding
x, can be approximated by x/ln x.
 The odds that a randomly selected positive integer less than n
is prime are approximately (n/ln n)/n = 1/ln n.
Generating Primes
 The problem of generating large primes is of both theoretical
and practical interest.
 finding large primes with hundreds of digits is important in
cryptography.
 So far, no useful closed formula that always produces primes has
been found. There is no simple function f(n) such that f(n) is
prime for all positive integers n.
 But f(n) = n2 − n + 41 is prime for all integers 1,2,…, 40. Because
of this, we might conjecture that f(n) is prime for all positive
integers n. But f(41) = 412 is not prime.
 More generally, there is no polynomial with integer coefficients
such that f(n) is prime for all positive integers n.
 Fortunately, we can generate large integers which are almost
certainly primes.
Conjectures about Primes
 Even though primes have been studied extensively for centuries, many
conjectures about them are unresolved, including:
 Goldbach’s Conjecture: Every even integer n, n > 2, is the sum of two
primes. It has been verified by computer for all positive even integers
up to 1.6 ∙1018. The conjecture is believed to be true by most
mathematicians.
 There are infinitely many primes of the form n2 + 1, where n is a
positive integer. But it has been shown that there are infinitely many
primes of the form n2 + 1, where n is a positive integer or the product
of at most two primes.
 The Twin Prime Conjecture: The twin prime conjecture is that there are
infinitely many pairs of twin primes. Twin primes are pairs of primes
that differ by 2. Examples are 3 and 5, 5 and 7, 11 and 13, etc. The
current world’s record for twin primes (as of mid 2011) consists of
numbers 65,516,468,355∙2333,333 ±1, which have 100,355 decimal
digits.
Greatest Common Divisor
Definition: Let a and b be integers, not both zero. The
largest integer d such that d | a and also d | b is called the
greatest common divisor of a and b. The greatest common
divisor of a and b is denoted by gcd(a,b).

One can find greatest common divisors of small numbers

by inspection.
Example:What is the greatest common divisor of 24 and
36?
Solution: gcd(24, 36) = 12
Example:What is the greatest common divisor of 17 and
22?
Solution: gcd(17,22) = 1
Greatest Common Divisor
Definition: The integers a and b are relatively prime if their
greatest common divisor is 1.
Example: 17 and 22
Definition: The integers a1, a2, …, an are pairwise relatively prime
if gcd(ai, aj)= 1 whenever 1 ≤ i<j ≤n.
Example: Determine whether the integers 10, 17 and 21 are
pairwise relatively prime.
Solution: Because gcd(10,17) = 1, gcd(10,21) = 1, and
gcd(17,21) = 1, 10, 17, and 21 are pairwise relatively prime.
Example: Determine whether the integers 10, 19, and 24 are
pairwise relatively prime.
Solution: Because gcd(10,24) = 2, 10, 19, and 24 are not
pairwise relatively prime.
Finding the Greatest Common Divisor
Using Prime Factorizations
 Suppose the prime factorizations of a and b are:

where each exponent is a nonnegative integer, and where all primes

occurring in either prime factorization are included in both. Then:

 This formula is valid since the integer on the right (of the equals sign)
divides both a and b. No larger integer can divide both a and b.
Example: 120 = 23 ∙3 ∙5 500 = 22 ∙53
gcd(120,500) = 2min(3,2) ∙3min(1,0) ∙5min(1,3) = 22 ∙30 ∙51 = 20
 Finding the gcd of two positive integers using their prime factorizations
is not efficient because there is no efficient algorithm for finding the
prime factorization of a positive integer.
Least Common Multiple
Definition: The least common multiple of the positive integers a and b
is the smallest positive integer that is divisible by both a and b. It is
denoted by lcm(a,b).
 The least common multiple can also be computed from the prime
factorizations.

This number is divided by both a and b and no smaller number is

divided by a and b.
Example: lcm(233572, 2433) = 2max(3,4) 3max(5,3) 7max(2,0) = 24 35 72
 The greatest common divisor and the least common multiple of two
integers are related by:
Theorem 5: Let a and b be positive integers. Then
ab = gcd(a,b) ∙lcm(a,b)