School of Computer Science and Information Technology

B. TECH. CSIT(CYBER SECURITY)

S.Y. SECTION A, B, C
ADVANCED CRYPTOGRAPHY
UNIT 2
 Because learning changes everything.®

Unit No 2
Cryptographic Mathematics

Dr. Araddhana Deshmukh

© McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved. No reproduction or distribution without the prior written consent of McGraw Hill LLC.
 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.
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 Chapter Summary
Divisibility and Modular Arithmetic.
Integer Representations and Algorithms.
Primes and Greatest Common Divisors.
Solving Congruences.
Applications of Congruences.
Cryptography.

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 Divisibility and Modular
Arithmetic
Section 2.1

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 Section Summary 1

Division.
Division Algorithm.
Modular Arithmetic.

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 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 denotes that a divides b.
• is an integer.
• If a does not divide b, we write

Example: Determine whether and whether

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 Properties of Divisibility
Theorem 1: Let a, b, and c be integers, where a ≠0.

Proof: (i) Suppose , 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,
(Exercises 3 and 4 ask for proofs of parts (ii) and (iii).)
Corollary: If a, b, and c be integers, where a ≠0, such that and
whenever m and n are integers.
Can you show how it follows easily from (ii) and (i) of Theorem 1?

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 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).
• d is called the divisor.
Definitions of Functions
• a is called the dividend.
div and mod
• q is called the quotient.
q = a div d
• r is called the remainder.
r = a mod d
Examples:
• 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.
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 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 (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.
• (mod 6) since 24 − 14 = 10 is not divisible by 6.
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 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) 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, and a ≡ b
(mod m).
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 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. (Proof in the exercises)
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 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)
≡ (mod 5)
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Algebraic Manipulation of Congruences
Multiplying both sides of a valid congruence by an integer preserves
validity.
If a ≡ b (mod m) holds then ≡ (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 , but
(mod 6).
See Section 4.3 for conditions when division is ok.
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 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. (proof
in text)
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 Arithmetic Modulo m 1

Definitions: Let be the set of nonnegative integers less

than m:
• The operation is defined as mod m. This is
addition modulo m.
• The operation is defined as mod m. This is
multiplication modulo m.
• Using these operations is said to be doing arithmetic modulo m.
Example: Find
Solution: Using the definitions above:
• mod 11 = 16 mod 11 = 5.
• mod 11 = 63 mod 11 = 8.
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 Arithmetic Modulo m 2

The operations satisfy many of the same

properties as ordinary addition and multiplication.
Closure: If a and b belong to

Associativity: If a, b, and c belong to

Commutativity: If a and b belong to , then

Identity elements: The elements 0 and 1 are identity elements

for addition and multiplication modulo m, respectively.
• If a belongs to
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 Arithmetic Modulo m 3

Additive inverses: If a≠ 0 belongs to , then m− a is the additive

inverse of a modulo m and 0 is its own additive inverse.
•

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

•

Exercises 42-44 ask for proofs of these properties.

Multiplicative inverses have not been included since they do not
always exist. For example, there is no multiplicative inverse of 2
modulo 6.
(optional) Using the terminology of abstract algebra,
a commutative group and is a commutative
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 Integer Representations and
Algorithms
Section 2.2

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 Section Summary 2

Integer Representations.
• Base b Expansions.
• Binary Expansions.
• Octal Expansions.
• Hexadecimal Expansions.
Base Conversion Algorithm.
Algorithms for Integer Operations.

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 Representations of Integers
In the modern world, we use decimal, or base 10,
notation to represent integers. For example when we
write 965, we mean
We can represent numbers using any base b, where
b is a positive integer greater than 1.
The bases b = 2 (binary), b = 8 (octal) , and b = 16
(hexadecimal) are important for computing and
communications.
The ancient Mayans used base 20 and the ancient
Babylonians used base 60.
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 Base b Representations
We can use positive integer b greater than 1 as a base, because of
this theorem:
Theorem 1: Let b be a positive integer greater than 1. Then if n is a
positive integer, it can be expressed uniquely in the form:

where k is a nonnegative integer, are nonnegative

integers less than b, and are called the base-
b digits of the representation.
(We will prove this using mathematical induction in Section 5.1.)
The representation of n given in Theorem 1 is called the base b
expansion of n and is denoted by
We usually omit the subscript 10 for base 10 expansions.
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 Binary Expansions
Most computers represent integers and do arithmetic with
binary (base 2) expansions of integers. In these expansions,
the only digits used are 0 and 1.
Example: What is the decimal expansion of the integer that
has as its binary expansion?
Solution:

Example: What is the decimal expansion of the integer that

has as its binary expansion?
Solution:
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 Octal Expansions
The octal expansion (base 8) uses the digits

Example: What is the decimal expansion of the

number with octal expansion
Solution:
Example: What is the decimal expansion of the
number with octal expansion
Solution:
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 Hexadecimal Expansions
The hexadecimal expansion needs 16 digits, but our
decimal system provides only 10. So letters are used for the
additional symbols. The hexadecimal system uses the digits
The letters A through F
represent the decimal numbers 10 through 15.
Example: What is the decimal expansion of the number with
hexadecimal expansion
Solution:

Example: What is the decimal expansion of the number with

hexadecimal expansion
Solution:
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 Base Conversion 1

To construct the base b expansion of an integer n:

• Divide n by b to obtain a quotient and remainder.

• The remainder, , is the rightmost digit in the base b

expansion of n. Next, divide

• The remainder, , is the second digit from the right in the

base b expansion of n.
• Continue by successively dividing the quotients by b,
obtaining the additional base b digits as the remainder.
The process terminates when the quotient is 0.
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 Proof of Second De Morgan Law 1

procedure base b expansion(n, b: positive integers with b > 1)

q := n
k := 0
while (q ≠ 0)

q := q div b
k := k + 1
return
q represents the quotient obtained by successive divisions by b, starting with
q = n.
The digits in the base b expansion are the remainders of the division given by
q mod b.
The algorithm terminates when q = 0 is reached.
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 Base Conversion 2

Example: Find the octal expansion of

Solution: Successively dividing by 8 gives:
•
•
•
•
•
The remainders are the digits from right to left
yielding
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Comparison of Hexadecimal, Octal, and
Binary Representations
TABLE 1 Hexadecimal, Octal, and Binary Representation of the Integers 0 through 15.
Decimal 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Hexadecimal 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F

Octal 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

Binary 0 1 10 11 100 101 110 111 1000 1001 1010 1011 1100 1101 1110 1111

Initial 0s are not shown

Each octal digit corresponds to a block of 3 binary digits.

Each hexadecimal digit corresponds to a block of 4 binary
digits.
So, conversion between binary, octal, and hexadecimal is
easy.
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 Conversion Between Binary, Octal, and
Hexadecimal Expansions
Example: Find the octal and hexadecimal expansions
of
Solution
• To convert to octal, we group the digits into blocks of
three , adding initial 0s as needed.
The blocks from left to right correspond to the digits
3,7,2,7, and 4. Hence, the solution is
• To convert to hexadecimal, we group the digits into blocks
of four , adding initial 0s as
needed. The blocks from left to right correspond to the
digits 3,E,B, and C. Hence, the solution is
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 Binary Addition of Integers
Algorithms for performing operations with integers using their binary
expansions are important as computer chips work with binary numbers. Each
digit is called a bit.
procedure add(a, b: positive integers)
{the binary expansions of a and b are
respectively}
c := 0
for j := 0 to n − 1

c := d

return
The number of additions of bits used by the algorithm to add two n-bit
integers is O(n).
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 Binary Multiplication of Integers
Algorithm for computing the product of two n bit integers.
procedure multiply(a, b: positive integers)
{the binary expansions of a and b are
, respectively}
for j := 0 to n − 1
= a shifted j places

p := 0
for j := 0 to n − 1
p := p +
return p {p is the value of ab}
The number of additions of bits used by the algorithm to multiply two
n-bit integers is
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 Binary Modular Exponentiation
In cryptography, it is important to be able to find mod m
efficiently, where b, n, and m are large integers.
Use the binary expansion of n, n = (ak-1, , a1,ao)2 , to
compute
Note that:

Therefore, to compute , we need only compute the values

and the multiply the terms in
this list, where
Example: Compute using this method.
Solution: Note that 11 = so that

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 Binary Modular Exponentiation
Algorithm
Algorithm for computing the product of two n bit integers.

procedure modular exponentiation(b: integer, n =

, m: positive integers)
x := 1
power := b mod m
for i := 0 to k − 1
if then x := (x power ) mod m
power := (power power ) mod m
return x {x equals mod m }

bit operations are used to find mod m.

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 Primes and Greatest
Common Divisors
Section 2.4

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 Section Summary 3

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.

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 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.

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 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:
•
• 641 = 641.
•
•
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 The Sieve of Eratosthenes 1

The Sieve of Eratosthenes 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. Erastothenes
(276-194 B.C.)
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:

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 The Sieve of Eratosthenes 2

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.
Access the text alternative for slide images.

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 Infinitude of Primes
Theorem: There are infinitely many primes. Euclid
(Euclid) (325 B.C.E. – 265 B.C.E.)
Proof:
Let q = Assume finitely many primes:
Either q is prime or by the fundamental theorem of arithmetic it is a
product of primes.
• But none of the primes divides q since if , then divides

• Hence, there is a prime not on the list . It is either q, or if q is composite,

it is a prime factor of q. This contradicts the assumption that are all
the primes.
Consequently, there are infinitely many primes.
This proof was given by Euclid The Elements. The proof is
considered to be one of the most beautiful in all mathematics. It
is the first proof in The Book, inspired by the famous
mathematician Paul Erdős’ imagined collection of perfect proofs Paul Erdős
maintained by God. (1913-1996)
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 Representing Functions
Definition: Prime numbers of the form
where p is prime, are called Mersenne primes. Marin Mersenne
• (1588-1648)
are Mersenne primes.
• = 2047 is not a Mersenne prime since 2047 =
• There is an efficient test for determining if is prime.
• The largest known prime numbers are Mersenne primes.
• As of mid 2011, 47 Mersenne primes were known, the largest is
, which has nearly 13 million decimal digits.
• The Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search (GIMPS) is a distributed
computing project to search for new Mersenne Primes.
http://www.mersenne.org/
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 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 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
• The be approximated
odds byselected positive integer less than n is
that a randomly
prime are approximately
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 Primes and Arithmetic Progressions
(optional)
Euclid’s proof that there are infinitely many primes can be easily
adapted to show that there are infinitely many primes in the following
4k + 3,(See
k = Exercise 55)
In the 19th century G. Lejeune Dirichlet showed that every arithmetic
progression ka + b, k = , where a and b have no common factor
greater than 1 contains infinitely many primes. (The proof is beyond the
scope of the text.)
Are there long arithmetic progressions made up entirely of primes?
• 5,11, 17, 23, 29 is an arithmetic progression of five primes.
• 199, 409, 619, 829, 1039,1249,1459,1669,1879,2089 is an
arithmetic progression of ten primes.
In the 1930s, Paul Erdős conjectured that for every positive
integer n greater than 1, there is an arithmetic progression
of length n made up entirely of primes. This was proven in Terence Tao
2006, by Ben Green and Terrence Tau. (Born 1975)
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 Generating Primes
The problem of generating large primes is of both theoretical and
practical interest.
We will see (in Section 4.6) that 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) = − n + 41 is prime for all integers Because of this,
we might conjecture that f(n) is prime for all positive integers n. But f(41)
= is not prime.
More generally, there is no polynomial with integer coefficients such that
f(n) is prime for all positive integers n. (See supplementary Exercise 23.)
Fortunately, we can generate large integers which are almost certainly
primes. See Chapter 7.
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 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 The conjecture is believed to be true by most
mathematicians.
There are infinitely many primes of the form , where n is a positive
integer. But it has been shown that there are infinitely many primes of
the form , 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
, which have 100,355 decimal digits.
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 Greatest Common Divisor 1

Definition: Let a and b be integers, not both zero. The largest

integer d such that and also 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
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 Greatest Common Divisor 2

Definition: The integers a and b are relatively prime if their greatest

common divisor is 1.
Example: 17 and 22.
Definition: The integers are pairwise relatively prime if
= 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.
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 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:

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.
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 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:
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)
(proof is Exercise 31)
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 Euclidean Algorithm 1

The Euclidian algorithm is an efficient method

for computing the greatest common divisor
of two integers. It is based on the idea that
gcd(a,b) is equal to gcd(a,c) when a > b and c
is the remainder when a is divided by b.
Euclid
Example: Find gcd(91, 287): (325 B.C.E. – 265 B.C.E.)

• Divide 287 by 91
• Divide 91 by 14

• Divide 14 by 7
Stopping condition

gcd(287, 91) = gcd(91, 14) = gcd(14, 7) = 7

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 Euclidean Algorithm 2

The Euclidean algorithm expressed in pseudocode is:

procedure gcd(a, b: positive integers)
x := a
y := b
while y ≠ 0
r := x mod y
x := y
y := r
return x {gcd(a,b) is x}
In Section 5.3, we’ll see that the time complexity of the
algorithm is O (log b), where a > b.
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 Correctness of Euclidean Algorithm 1

Lemma 1: Let a = bq + r, where a, b, q, and r are integers.

Then gcd(a,b) = gcd(b,r).
Proof:
• Suppose that d divides both a and b. Then d also divides a − bq
= r (by Theorem 1 of Section 4.1). Hence, any common divisor
of a and b must also be any common divisor of b and r.
• Suppose that d divides both b and r. Then d also divides bq + r =
a. Hence, any common divisor of a and b must also be a
common divisor of b and r.
• Therefore, gcd(a,b) = gcd(b,r).

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 Correctness of Euclidean Algorithm 2

Suppose that a and b are positive

integers with a ≥ b.

Successive applications of the division

algorithm yields:
Eventually, a remainder of zero occurs in the sequence of terms:
The sequence can’t contain more than a
terms.
By Lemma 1
gcd(a,b) =
Hence the greatest common divisor is the last nonzero
remainder in the sequence of divisions.
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 gcds as Linear
Combinations
Bézout’s Theorem: If a and b are positive
integers, then there exist integers s and t such
that gcd(a,b) = sa + tb. Étienne Bézout
(proof in exercises of Section 5.2) (1730-1783)
Definition: If a and b are positive integers, then integers s and
t such that gcd(a,b) = sa + tb are called Bézout coefficients of
a and b. The equation gcd(a,b) = sa + tb is called Bézout’s
identity.
By Bézout’s Theorem, the gcd of integers a and b can be
expressed in the form sa + tb where s and t are integers. This
is a linear combination with integer coefficients of a and b.
• gcd(6,14) = (−2)
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 Graphs of Functions
Example: Express gcd(252,198) = 18 as a linear combination of 252 and 198.
Solution: First use the Euclidean algorithm to show gcd(252,198) = 18
i. 252 =
ii. 198 =
iii. 54 =
iv. 36 =
Now working backwards, from iii and i above
• 18 = 54 −
• 36 = 198 −
Substituting the 2nd equation into the 1st yields:
• 18 = 54 −
Substituting 54 = 252 − 1 ·198 (from i)) yields:
• 18 =
This method illustrated above is a two pass method. It first uses the Euclidian
algorithm to find the gcd and then works backwards to express the gcd as a
linear combination of the original two integers. A one pass method, called the
extended Euclidean algorithm, is developed in the exercises.
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 Consequences of Bézout’s Theorem
Lemma 2: If a, b, and c are positive integers such that gcd(a, b) = 1
and
Proof: Assume gcd(a, b) = 1 and
• Since gcd(a, b) = 1, by Bézout’s Theorem there are integers s and t such that
sa + tb = 1.
• Multiplying both sides of the equation by c, yields sac + tbc = c.
• From Theorem 1 of Section 4.1:
(part ii) and a divides sac + tbc since (part i)
• We conclude , since sac + tbc = c.
Lemma 3: If p is prime and for some i.
(proof uses mathematical induction; see Exercise 64 of Section 5.1)
Lemma 3 is crucial in the proof of the uniqueness of prime
factorizations.
© McGraw Hill LLC 57
 Uniqueness of Prime Factorization
We will prove that a prime factorization of a positive integer
where the primes are in nondecreasing order is unique. (This part
of the fundamental theorem of arithmetic. The other part, which
asserts that every positive integer has a prime factorization into
primes, will be proved in Section 5.2.)
Proof: (by contradiction) Suppose that the positive integer n can be
written as a product of primes in two distinct ways:

• Remove all common primes from the factorizations to get.

• By Lemma 3, it follows that divides, for some k, contradicting the
assumption that and are distinct primes.
• Hence, there can be at most one factorization of n into primes in
nondecreasing order.
© McGraw Hill LLC 58
 Dividing Congruences by an Integer
Dividing both sides of a valid congruence by an integer
does not always produce a valid congruence (see Section
4.1).
But dividing by an integer relatively prime to the
modulus does produce a valid congruence:
Theorem 7: Let m be a positive integer and let a, b, and c
be integers. If ac ≡ bc (mod m) and gcd(c,m) = 1, then a ≡
b (mod m).
Proof: Since ac ≡ bc (mod m), m ac − bc = c(a − b) by
Lemma 2 and the fact that gcd(c,m) = 1, it follows that
m a − b. Hence, a ≡ b (mod m).
© McGraw Hill LLC 59
 Solving Congruences
Section 2.4

© McGraw Hill LLC 60

 Section Summary 4

Linear Congruences.
The Chinese Remainder Theorem.
Computer Arithmetic with Large Integers (not
currently included in slides, see text).
Fermat’s Little Theorem.
Pseudorandom.
Primitive Roots and Discrete Logarithms.

© McGraw Hill LLC 61

 Linear Congruences
Definition: A congruence of the form
ax ≡ b( mod m),
where m is a positive integer, a and b are integers, and x is a
variable, is called a linear congruence.
The solutions to a linear congruence ax ≡ b( mod m) are all
integers x that satisfy the congruence.
Definition: An integer such that ≡ 1( mod m) is said to be an
inverse of a modulo m.
Example: 5 is an inverse of 3 modulo 7 since = 15 ≡ 1(mod
One method of solving linear congruences makes7).use of an
inverse , if it exists. Although we can not divide both sides of the
congruence by a, we can multiply by to solve for x.
© McGraw Hill LLC 62
 Inverse of a modulo m
The following theorem guarantees that an inverse of a modulo m
exists whenever a and m are relatively prime. Two integers a and
b are relatively prime when gcd(a,b) = 1.
Theorem 1: If a and m are relatively prime integers and m > 1,
then an inverse of a modulo m exists. Furthermore, this inverse is
unique modulo m. (This means that there is a unique positive
integer less than m that is an inverse of a modulo m and every
other inverse of a modulo m is congruent to modulo m.)
Proof: Since gcd(a,m) = 1, by Theorem 6 of Section 4.3, there are
integers s and t such that sa + tm = 1.
• Hence, sa + tm ≡ 1 ( mod m).
• Since tm ≡ 0 ( mod m), it follows that sa ≡ 1 ( mod m).
• Consequently, s is an inverse of a modulo m.
• The uniqueness of the inverse is Exercise 7.
© McGraw Hill LLC 63
 Finding Inverses 1

The Euclidean algorithm and Bézout coefficients gives us a

systematic approaches to finding inverses.
Example: Find an inverse of 3 modulo 7.
Solution: Because gcd(3,7) = 1, by Theorem 1, an inverse of 3
modulo 7 exists.
• Using the Euclidian algorithm: 7 =
• From this equation, we get − = 1, and see that −2 and 1 are
Bézout coefficients of 3 and 7.
• Hence, −2 is an inverse of 3 modulo 7.
• Also every integer congruent to −2 modulo 7 is an inverse of 3
modulo 7, i.e., 5, −9, 12, etc.

© McGraw Hill LLC 64

 Finding Inverses 2

Example: Find an inverse of 101 modulo 4620.

Solution: First use the Euclidian algorithm to show that gcd(101,4620) = 1.
Working Backwards:

Since the last nonzero remainder

is 1, gcd(101,4260) = 1

Bézout coefficients : − 35 and 1601 1601 is an inverse of 101 modulo 42620

© McGraw Hill LLC 65
 Using Inverses to Solve Congruences
We can solve the congruence ax≡ b( mod m) by multiplying both sides
by
Example: What are the solutions of the congruence 3x≡ 4( mod 7).
Solution: We found that −2 is an inverse of 3 modulo 7 (two slides back).
We multiply both sides of the congruence by −2 giving
(mod 7).

Because −6 ≡ 1 (mod 7) and −8 ≡ 6 (mod 7), it follows that if x is a

solution, then x ≡ −8 ≡ 6 (mod 7)
We need to determine if every x with x ≡ 6 (mod 7) is a solution. Assume
that x ≡ 6 (mod 7). By Theorem 5 of Section 4.1, it follows that 3x ≡ 3.
6 = 18 ≡ 4( mod 7) which shows that all such x satisfy the congruence.
The solutions are the integers x such that x ≡ 6 (mod 7), namely,
and
© McGraw Hill LLC 66
 The Chinese Remainder Theorem 1

In the first century, the Chinese mathematician Sun-Tsu asked:

There are certain things whose number is unknown. When divided
by 3, the remainder is 2; when divided by 5, the remainder is 3;
when divided by 7, the remainder is 2. What will be the number of
things?
This puzzle can be translated into the solution of the system of
congruences:
x ≡ 2 ( mod 3),
x ≡ 3 ( mod 5),
x ≡ 2 ( mod 7)?
We’ll see how the theorem that is known as the Chinese
Remainder Theorem can be used to solve Sun-Tsu’s problem.
© McGraw Hill LLC 67
 The Chinese Remainder Theorem 2

Theorem 2: (The Chinese Remainder Theorem) Let be

pairwise relatively prime positive integers greater than one and
arbitrary integers. Then the system

has a unique solution modulo m =

(That is, there is a solution x with 0 ≤ x <m and all other solutions are
congruent modulo m to this solution.)
Proof: We’ll show that a solution exists by describing a way to construct
the solution. Showing that the solution is unique modulo m is Exercise 30.
© McGraw Hill LLC 68
 The Chinese Remainder Theorem 3

To construct a solution first let

Since gcd = 1, by Theorem 1, there is an integer , an inverse of
modulo , such that

Form the sum

Note that because whenever j ≠k , all terms except the kth

term in this sum are congruent to 0 modulo
Because , we see that , for k =

Hence, x is a simultaneous solution to the n congruences.

© McGraw Hill LLC 69

 The Chinese Remainder Theorem 4

Example: Consider the 3 congruences from Sun-Tsu’s

problem:
x ≡ 2 ( mod 3), x ≡ 3 ( mod 5), x ≡ 2 ( mod 7).
Let
We msee= that
• 2 is an inverse of M1 = 35 modulo 3 since 35 (mod 3).
• 1 is an inverse of M2 = 21 modulo 5 since 21 ≡ 1 (mod 5).
• 1 is an inverse of M3 = 15 modulo 7 since 15 ≡ 1 (mod 7).
Hence,
x = a1M1y1 + a2M2y2 + a3M3y3
= 233 ≡ 23 (mod 105)
We have shown that 23 is the smallest positive integer that is a
simultaneous solution. Check it!

© McGraw Hill LLC 70

 Back Substitution
We can also solve systems of linear congruences with pairwise relatively prime moduli
by rewriting a congruences as an equality using Theorem 4 in Section 4.1, substituting
the value for the variable into another congruence, and continuing the process until we
have worked through all the congruences. This method is known as back substitution.
Example: Use the method of back substitution to find all integers x such that x ≡ 1 (mod
5), x ≡ 2 (mod 6), and x ≡ 3 (mod 7).
Solution: By Theorem 4 in Section 4.1, the first congruence can be rewritten as x = 5t +1,
where t is an integer.
• Substituting into the second congruence yields 5t +1 ≡ 2 (mod 6).
• Solving this tells us that t ≡ 5 (mod 6).
• Using Theorem 4 again gives t = 6u + 5 where u is an integer.
• Substituting this back into x = 5t +1, gives x =
• Inserting this into the third equation gives 30u + 26 ≡ 3 (mod 7).
• Solving this congruence tells us that u ≡ 6 (mod 7).
• By Theorem 4, u = 7v + 6, where v is an integer.
• Substituting this expression for u into x = 30u + 26, tells us that x =
= 210u + 206.
Translating this back into a congruence we find the solution x ≡ 206 (mod 210).
© McGraw Hill LLC 71
 Fermat’s Little Theorem
Theorem 3: (Fermat’s Little Theorem) If p is prime
and a is an integer not divisible by p, then
≡ 1 (mod p)
Furthermore, for every integer a we have
≡ a (mod p) Pierre de Fermat
(proof outlined in Exercise 19) (1601-1665)
Fermat’s little theorem is useful in computing the remainders modulo
p of large powers of integers.
Example: Find mod 11.
By Fermat’s little theorem, we know that ≡ 1 (mod 11), and so
≡ 1 (mod 11), for every positive integer k. Therefore,
(mod 11).
Hence, mod 11 = 5.
© McGraw Hill LLC 72
 Pseudoprimes 1

By Fermat’s little theorem n > 2 is prime, where

≡ 1 (mod n).
But if this congruence holds, n may not be prime. Composite
integers n such that ≡ 1 (mod n) are called pseudoprimes to the
base 2.
Example: The integer 341 is a pseudoprime to the base 2.

≡ 1 (mod 341) (see in Exercise 37)

We can replace 2 by any integer b ≥ 2.
Definition: Let b be a positive integer. If n is a composite integer,
and ≡ 1 (mod n), then n is called a pseudoprime to the base b.
© McGraw Hill LLC 73
 Pseudoprimes 2

Given a positive integer n, such that ≡ 1 (mod n):

• If n does not satisfy the congruence, it is composite.

• If n does satisfy the congruence, it is either prime or a pseudoprime

to the base 2.

Doing similar tests with additional bases b, provides more

evidence as to whether n is prime.
Among the positive integers not exceeding a positive real
number x, compared to primes, there are relatively few
pseudoprimes to the base b.
• For example, among the positive integers less than there are
455,052,512 primes, but only 14,884 pseudoprimes to the base 2.
© McGraw Hill LLC 74
Carmichael Numbers Robert

(optional) Carmichael
(1879-1967)
There are composite integers n that pass all tests with bases
b such that gcd(b,n) = 1.
Definition: A composite integer n that satisfies the congruence ≡ 1 (mod n)
for all positive integers b with gcd(b,n) = 1 is called a Carmichael number.
Example: The integer 561 is a Carmichael number. To see this:
• 561 is composite, since 561 =
• If gcd(b, 561) = 1, then gcd(b, 3) = 1, then gcd(b, 11) = gcd(b, 17) =1.
• Using Fermat’s Little Theorem:
• Then

• It follows (see Exercise 29) that ≡ 1 (mod 561) for all positive integers b with
gcd(b,561) = 1. Hence, 561 is a Carmichael number.
Even though there are infinitely many Carmichael numbers, there are other tests
(described in the exercises) that form the basis for efficient probabilistic
primality testing. (see Chapter 7)
© McGraw Hill LLC 75
 Primitive Roots
Definition: A primitive root modulo a prime p is an integer r in
such that every nonzero element of is a power of r.
Example: Since every element of is a power of 2, 2 is a
primitive root of 11.
Powers of 2 modulo 11:

Example: Since not all elements of are powers of 3, 3 is not a

primitive root of 11.
Powers of 3 modulo 11: , and the
pattern repeats for higher powers.
Important Fact: There is a primitive root modulo p for every prime
number p.
© McGraw Hill LLC 76
 Discrete Logarithms
Suppose p is prime and r is a primitive root modulo p. If a is an integer between
1 and p −1, that is an element of , there is a unique exponent e such that
, that is, mod p = a.
Definition: Suppose that p is prime, r is a primitive root modulo p, and a is an
integer between 1 and p −1, inclusive. If mod p = a and 1 ≤ e ≤ p − 1, we say
that e is the discrete logarithm of a modulo p to the base r and we write
e (where the prime p is understood).
Example 1: We write 3 = 8 since the discrete logarithm of 3 modulo 11 to
the base 2 is 8 as = 3 modulo 11.
Example 2: We write 5 = 4 since the discrete logarithm of 5 modulo 11 to
the base 2 is 4 as = 5 modulo 11.
There is no known polynomial time algorithm for computing the discrete
logarithm of a modulo p to the base r (when given the prime p, a root r modulo
p, and a positive integer a ∊ ). The problem plays a role in cryptography as will
be discussed in Section 4.6.
© McGraw Hill LLC 77
 Applications of
Congruences
Section 2.5

© McGraw Hill LLC 78

 Section Summary 5

Hashing Functions.
Pseudorandom Numbers.
Check Digits.

© McGraw Hill LLC 79

 Hashing Functions
Definition: A hashing function h assigns memory location h(k) to the record that has k as
its key.
• A common hashing function is h(k) = k mod m, where m is the number of memory locations.
• Because this hashing function is onto, all memory locations are possible.
Example: Let h(k) = k mod 111. This hashing function assigns the records of customers
with social security numbers as keys to memory locations in the following manner:
h(064212848) = 064212848 mod 111 = 14
h(037149212) = 037149212 mod 111 = 65
h(107405723) = 107405723 mod 111 = 14, but since location 14 is already occupied, the record is
assigned to the next available position, which is 15.
The hashing function is not one-to-one as there are many more possible keys than
memory locations. When more than one record is assigned to the same location, we say
a collision occurs. Here a collision has been resolved by assigning the record to the first
free location.
For collision resolution, we can use a linear probing function:
h(k,i) = (h(k) + i) mod m, where i runs from 0 to m − 1.
There are many other methods of handling with collisions. You may cover these in a
later CS course.
© McGraw Hill LLC 80
 Pseudorandom Numbers 1

Randomly chosen numbers are needed for many purposes, including

computer simulations.
Pseudorandom numbers are not truly random since they are generated
by systematic methods.
The linear congruential method is one commonly used procedure for
generating pseudorandom numbers.
Four integers are needed: the modulus m, the multiplier a, the
increment c, and seed
We generate a sequence of pseudorandom numbers
for all n, by successively using the recursively defined
function
(an example of a recursive definition, discussed in Section 5.3)
If pseudorandom numbers between 0 and 1 are needed, then the
generated numbers are divided by the modulus,
© McGraw Hill LLC 81
 Pseudorandom Numbers 2

Example: Find the sequence of pseudorandom numbers generated by the linear

congruential method with modulus m = 9, multiplier a = 7, increment c = 4, and seed

Solution: Compute the terms of the sequence by successively using the congruence

The sequence generated is

It repeats after generating 9 terms.
Commonly, computers use a linear congruential generator with increment c = 0. This is
called a pure multiplicative generator. Such a generator with modulus − 1 and
multiplier = 16,807 generates − 2 numbers before repeating.
© McGraw Hill LLC 82
 Check Digits: UPCs
A common method of detecting errors in strings of digits is to add an extra digit at the
end, which is evaluated using a function. If the final digit is not correct, then the string is
assumed not to be correct.
Example: Retail products are identified by their Universal Product Codes (UPCs). Usually
these have 12 decimal digits, the last one being the check digit. The check digit is
determined by the congruence:

a. Suppose that the first 11 digits of the UPC are 79357343104. What is the check digit?
b. Is 041331021641 a valid UPC?
Solution:
a.

So, the check digit is 2.

b.

Hence, 041331021641 is not a valid UPC.

© McGraw Hill LLC 83

 Check Digits:ISBNs
Books are identified by an International Standard Book Number (ISBN-10), a 10 digit code. The
first 9 digits identify the language, the publisher, and the book. The tenth digit is a check digit,
which is determined by the following congruence

The validity of an ISBN-10 number can be evaluated with the equivalent

a. Suppose that the first 9 digits of the ISBN-10 are 007288008. What is the check digit?
b. Is 084930149X a valid ISBN10?
X is used
Solution:
for the
a. digit 10.

b.

Hence, 084930149X is not a valid ISBN-10

A single error is an error in one digit of an identification number and a transposition error is the
accidental interchanging of two digits. Both of these kinds of errors can be detected by the check
digit for ISBN-10. (see text for more details)
© McGraw Hill LLC 84
 Section Summary 6

Classical Cryptography.
Cryptosystems.
Public Key Cryptography.
RSA Cryptosystem.
Cryptographic Protocols.
Primitive Roots and Discrete Logarithms.

© McGraw Hill LLC 85

 Caesar Cipher 1

Julius Caesar created secret messages by shifting each letter three letters forward in the
alphabet (sending the last three letters to the first three letters.) For example, the letter
B is replaced by E and the letter X is replaced by A. This process of making a message
secret is an example of encryption.
Here is how the encryption process works:
• Replace each letter by an integer from , that is an integer from 0 to 25 representing one less
than its position in the alphabet.
• The encryption function is f(p) = (p + 3) mod 26. It replaces each integer p in the set
by f(p) in the set
• Replace each integer p by the letter with the position p + 1 in the alphabet.
Example: Encrypt the message “MEET YOU IN THE PARK” using the Caesar cipher.
Solution: 12 4 4 19 24 14 20 8 13 19 7 4 15 0 17 10.
Now replace each of these numbers p by f(p) = (p + 3) mod 26.
15 7 7 22 1 17 23 11 16 22 10 7 18 3 20 13.
Translating the numbers back to letters produces the encrypted message
“PHHW BRX LQ WKH SDUN.”
© McGraw Hill LLC 86
 Caesar Cipher 2

To recover the original message, use (p) = (p−3) mod 26. So,
each letter in the coded message is shifted back three letters in
the alphabet, with the first three letters sent to the last three
letters. This process of recovering the original message from the
encrypted message is called decryption.
The Caesar cipher is one of a family of ciphers called shift
ciphers. Letters can be shifted by an integer k, with 3 being just
one possibility. The encryption function is
f(p) = (p + k) mod 26
and the decryption function is
(p) = (p−k) mod 26
The integer k is called a key.
© McGraw Hill LLC 87
 Shift Cipher 1

Example 1: Encrypt the message “STOP GLOBAL WARMING”

using the shift cipher with k = 11.
Solution: Replace each letter with the corresponding
element of
18 19 14 15 6 11 14 1 0 11 22 0 17 12 8 13 6.
Apply the shift f(p) = (p + 11) mod 26, yielding
3 4 25 0 17 22 25 12 11 22 7 11 2 23 19 24 17.
Translating the numbers back to letters produces the ciphertext
“DEZA RWZMLW HLCXTYR.”

© McGraw Hill LLC 88

 Shift Cipher 2

Example 2: Decrypt the message “LEWLYPLUJL PZ H NYLHA

ALHJOLY” that was encrypted using the shift cipher with k = 7.
Solution: Replace each letter with the corresponding element of

11 4 22 11 24 15 11 20 9 1 15 25 7 13 24 11 7 0 0 11 7 9 14
11 24.

Shift each of the numbers by −k = −7 modulo 26, yielding

4 23 15 4 17 8 4 13 2 4 8 18 0 6 17 4 0 19 19 4 0 2 7 4 17.

Translating the numbers back to letters produces the decrypted

message
“EXPERIENCE IS A GREAT TEACHER.”

© McGraw Hill LLC 89

 Affine Ciphers
Shift ciphers are a special case of affine ciphers which use functions of the form
f(p) = (ap + b) mod 26,
where a and b are integers, chosen so that f is a bijection.
The function is a bijection if and only if gcd(a,26) = 1.
Example: What letter replaces the letter K when the function f(p) = (7p + 3)
mod 26 is used for encryption.
Solution: Since 10 represents K, f(10) = mod 26 =21, which is then
replaced by V.
To decrypt a message encrypted by a shift cipher, the congruence c ≡ ap + b
(mod 26) needs to be solved for p.
• Subtract b from both sides to obtain c− b ≡ ap (mod 26).
• Multiply both sides by the inverse of a modulo 26, which exists since gcd(a,26) = 1.
• (mod 26), which simplifies to ≡ p (mod 26).
• (mod 26) is used to determine p in

© McGraw Hill LLC 90

 Cryptanalysis of Affine Ciphers
The process of recovering plaintext from ciphertext without knowledge both of
the encryption method and the key is known as cryptanalysis or breaking codes.
An important tool for cryptanalyzing ciphertext produced with a affine ciphers
is the relative frequencies of letters. The nine most common letters in the
English texts are E 13%, T 9%, A 8%, O 8%, I 7%, N 7%, S 7%, H 6%, and R 6%.
To analyze ciphertext:
• Find the frequency of the letters in the ciphertext.
• Hypothesize that the most frequent letter is produced by encrypting E.
• If the value of the shift from E to the most frequent letter is k, shift the ciphertext by
−k and see if it makes sense.
• If not, try T as a hypothesis and continue.
Example: We intercepted the message “ZNK KGXRE HOXJ MKZY ZNK CUXS” that
we know was produced by a shift cipher. Let’s try to cryptanalyze.
Solution: The most common letter in the ciphertext is K. So perhaps the letters
were shifted by 6 since this would then map E to K. Shifting the entire message
by −6 gives us “THE EARLY BIRD GETS THE WORM.”
© McGraw Hill LLC 91
 Block Ciphers 1

Ciphers that replace each letter of the alphabet by another letter

are called character or monoalphabetic ciphers.
They are vulnerable to cryptanalysis based on letter frequency.
Block ciphers avoid this problem, by replacing blocks of letters
with other blocks of letters.
A simple type of block cipher is called the transposition cipher. The
key is a permutation σ of the set , where m is an integer,
that is a one-to-one function from to itself.
To encrypt a message, split the letters into blocks of size m,
adding additional letters to fill out the final block. We encrypt

To decrypt the transpose the letters using the inverse

permutation
© McGraw Hill LLC 92
 Block Ciphers 2

Example: Using the transposition cipher based on the

permutation σ of the set with σ(1) = 3, σ(2) = 1,
σ(3) = 4, σ(4) = 2
a. Encrypt the plaintext PIRATE ATTACK.
b. Decrypt the ciphertext message SWUE TRAEOEHS, which was encrypted
using the same cipher.
Solution:
a. Split into four blocks PIRA TEAT TACK.
Apply the permutation σ giving IAPR ETTA AKTC./
b.
Apply the permutation giving USE WATER HOSE.
Split into words to obtain USE WATER HOSE.

© McGraw Hill LLC 93

 Cryptosystems 1

Definition: A cryptosystem is a five-tuple (P,C,K,E,D), where

• P is the set of plaintext strings,

• C is the set of ciphertext strings,

• K is the keyspace (set of all possible keys),

• E is the set of encryption functions, and

• D is the set of decryption functions.

The encryption function in E corresponding to the key k is denoted

by and the description function in D that decrypts cipher text
encrypted using is denoted by Therefore:

= p, for all plaintext strings p.

© McGraw Hill LLC 94
 Cryptosystems 2

Example: Describe the family of shift ciphers as a

cryptosystem.
Solution: Assume the messages are strings consisting of
elements in
• P is the set of strings of elements in
• C is the set of strings of elements in
• K=
• E consists of functions of the form
mod 26 , and
• D is the same as E where mod 26 .
© McGraw Hill LLC 95
 Public Key Cryptography
All classical ciphers, including shift and affine ciphers, are
private key cryptosystems. Knowing the encryption key
allows one to quickly determine the decryption key.
All parties who wish to communicate using a private key
cryptosystem must share the key and keep it a secret.
In public key cryptosystems, first invented in the 1970s,
knowing how to encrypt a message does not help one to
decrypt the message. Therefore, everyone can have a
publicly known encryption key. The only key that needs
to be kept secret is the decryption key.

© McGraw Hill LLC 96

 Clifford Cocks
The RSA Cryptosystem (Born 1950)

A public key cryptosystem, now known as the RSA system was introduced in
1976 by three researchers at MIT.

Ronald Rivest Adi Shamir Leonard

(Born 1948) (Born 1952) Adelman
(Born 1945)

It is now known that the method was discovered earlier by Clifford Cocks,
working secretly for the UK government.

The public encryption key is (n,e), where n = pq (the modulus) is the

product of two large (200 digits) primes p and q, and an exponent e that is
relatively prime to (p−1)(q −1). The two large primes can be quickly found
using probabilistic primality tests, discussed earlier. But n = pq, with
approximately 400 digits, cannot be factored in a reasonable length of time.
© McGraw Hill LLC 97
 RSA Encryption
To encrypt a message using RSA using a key (n,e) :
i. Translate the plaintext message M into sequences of two digit integers representing the
letters. Use 00 for A, 01 for B, etc.
ii. Concatenate the two digit integers into strings of digits.
iii. Divide this string into equally sized blocks of 2N digits where 2N is the largest even number
with 2N digits that does not exceed n.
iv. The plaintext message M is now a sequence of integers
v. Each block (an integer) is encrypted using the function C =
Example: Encrypt the message STOP using the RSA cryptosystem with key(2537,13).
• 2537 =
• p = 43 and q = 59 are primes and
Solution: Translate the letters in STOP to their numerical equivalents 18 19 14 15.
• Divide into blocks of four digits (because 2525 < 2537 < 252525) to obtain 1819
1415.
• Encrypt each block using the mapping C =
• Since mod 2537 = 2081 and mod 2537 = 2182, the encrypted message is 2081

© McGraw Hill LLC 98

 RSA Decryption
To decrypt a RSA ciphertext message, the decryption key d, an inverse of e modulo
(p−1)(q −1) is needed. The inverse exists since

With the decryption key d, we can decrypt each block with the computation
(see text for full derivation)

RSA works as a public key system since the only known method of finding d is based on
a factorization of n into primes. There is currently no known feasible method for
factoring large numbers into primes.

Example: The message 0981 0461 is received. What is the decrypted message if it was
encrypted using the RSA cipher from the previous example.

Solution: The message was encrypted with n = and exponent 13. An inverse of
= 2436 (exercise 2 in Section 4.4) is d = 937.

• To decrypt a block C, M =

• Since = 1115, the decrypted message is 0704

1115. Translating back to English letters, the message is HELP.

© McGraw Hill LLC 99

 Cryptographic Protocols: Key Exchange
Cryptographic protocols are exchanges of messages carried out by two or more parties
to achieve a particular security goal.
Key exchange is a protocol by which two parties can exchange a secret key over an
insecure channel without having any past shared secret information. Here the
Diffe-Hellman key agreement protocol is described by example.
i. Suppose that Alice and Bob want to share a common key.
ii. Alice and Bob agree to use a prime p and a primitive root a of p.
iii. Alice chooses a secret integer and sends mod p to Bob.
iv. Bob chooses a secret integer and sends mod p to Alice.
v. Alice computes
vi. Bob computes
At the end of the protocol, Alice and Bob have their shared key

To find the secret information from the public information would require the adversary
to find respectively. This is an instance of the
discrete logarithm problem, considered to be computationally infeasible when p and a
are sufficiently large.
© McGraw Hill LLC 100
 Cryptographic Protocols: Digital
Signatures 1

Adding a digital signature to a message is a way of ensuring the recipient that

the message came from the purported sender.
Suppose that Alice’s RSA public key is (n,e) and her private key is d. Alice
encrypts a plain text message x using mod n. She decrypts a
ciphertext message y using mod n.
Alice wants to send a message M so that everyone who receives the message
knows that it came from her.
1. She translates the message to numerical equivalents and splits into blocks,
just as in RSA encryption.
2. She then applies her decryption function to the blocks and sends the
results to all intended recipients.
3. The recipients apply Alice’s encryption function and the result is the original
plain text since
Everyone who receives the message can then be certain that it came from Alice.
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 Cryptographic Protocols: Digital
Signatures 2

Example: Suppose Alice’s RSA cryptosystem is the same as in the earlier example with
key(2537,13), 2537 = 43 59, p = 43 and q = 59 are primes and

Her decryption key is d = 937.

She wants to send the message “MEET AT NOON” to her friends so that they can be
certain that the message is from her.
Solution: Alice translates the message into blocks of digits 1204 0419 0019 1314 1413.
1. She then applies her decryption transformation mod 2537 to each
block.
2. She finds (using her laptop, programming skills, and knowledge of discrete
mathematics) that

3. She sends 0817 0555 1310 2173 1026.

When one of her friends receive the message, they apply Alice’s encryption
transformation to each block. They then obtain the original message which they
translate back to English letters.

© McGraw Hill LLC 102