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#
Authors:
William Stallings
Chapter:
Introduction To Number Theory
Exercise:
Problems
Question:22 | ISBN:9781292158587 | Edition: 7

Question

Use Fermat’s theorem to find a number x between 0 and 37 with x^73 congruent to 4 modulo 37. (You should not need to use any brute-force searching.)

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Answer

Fermat's Little Theorem states that if "p" is a prime number and "a" is an integer not divisible by "p," then:

a(p-1) ≡ 1 (mod p)

 

Let's use Fermat's theorem to find a number "x" such that x73 ≡ 4 (mod 37):

 

Since 37 is a prime number, we can use Fermat's Little Theorem with "a = x" and "p = 37":

 

x(37-1) ≡ 1 (mod 37)

x36 ≡ 1 (mod 37)

Now, rearrange the congruence equation to fit our requirement:

x73 = x(2 * 36 + 1)

 

Using the property of modular arithmetic:

x(2 * 36 + 1) ≡ (x36)2 * x ≡ 12 * x ≡ x (mod 37)

 

So,  need to find a number "x" such that "x" is congruent to 4 (mod 37). A straightforward solution is x = 4. Let's verify:

473 ≡ 4 (mod 37)

Now, let's calculate (473) % 37:

(473) % 37 = 4

 

Therefore, x = 4 is the number between 0 and 37 that satisfies x73 ≡ 4 (mod 37) using Fermat's theorem.

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