[od ELEMENTARY NUMBER THEORY REVISED PRINTING DAVID M. BURTON University of New Hampshire Allyn and Bacon, Inc. Boston - London - Sydney - TorontoTo Martha od Copyright © 1980, 1976 by Allyn and Bacon, Inc., 470 Atlantic Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02210. All rights reserved. No part of the material protected by this copyright notice may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission of the copyright owner. ARARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING IN PUBLICATION DAT. Burton, David M Elementary number theory. Bibliogs abe Theory of. I. Title, Qazi Baste ae 5.2485 ISBN 0-205-06965-7 ISBN 0-205-06978-9 (International) Printed in the United States of America.Pp CONTENTS Preface v Chapter 1, Some Preliminary Considerations 1 1.1 Mathematical Induction 2 1.2 The Binomial Theorem 9 1.3 Early Number Theory 13 Chapter 2. Divisibility Theory in the Integers 19 2.1 The Division Algorithm 20 2.2 The Greatest Common Divisor 23 2.3 The Euclidean Algorithm 31 2.4 The Diophantine Equation ax +by=¢ 38 Chapter 3. Primes and Their Distribution 45 3.1 The Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic 46 3,2 The Sieve of Eratosthenes 52 3.3 The Goldbach Conjecture 58 Chapter 4. The Theory of Congruences 67 4.1 Karl Friedrich Gauss 68 4.2 Basic Properties of Congruence 70 4.3 Special Divisibility Tests 77 4.4 Linear Congruences 82 Chapter 5. Fermat’s Theorem 91 5.1 Pierre de Fermat 92 5.2 Fermat’s Factorization Method 94 5.3 The Little Theorem 97 5.4 Wilson’s Theorem 102 Chapter 6. Number Theoretic Functions 109 6.1 The Functions sando 110 6.2 The Mobius Inversion Formula 120 6.3 The Greatest Integer Function 126 Chapter 7. Euler’s Generalization of Fermat’s Theorem 133 7.1 Leonhard Euler 134 7.2 Euler’s Phi-Function 136 7.3 Euler’s Theorem 142 7.4 Some Properties of the Phi-Function 148 iiiav ‘Contents Chapter 8. Primitive Roots and Indices 155 8.1 The Order of an Integer Modulo n 156 8.2 Primitive Roots of Primes 162 8.3 Composite Numbers Having Primitive Roots 170 8.4 The Theory of Indices 175 Chapter 9. The Quadratic Reciprocity Law 183 9.1 Eulet’s Criterion 184 9.2 The Legendre Symbol and its Properties 190 9.3 Quadratic Reciprocity 203 9.4 Quadratic Congruences with Composite Moduli 211 Chapter 10. Perfect Numbers 217 10.1 The Search for Perfect Numbers 218 10.2 Mersenne Primes 225 10.3 Fermat Numbers 235 Chapter 11. The Fermat Conjecture 241 11.1 Pythagorean Triples 242 11.2 The Famous “Last Theorem” 250 Chapter 12. Representation of Integers as Sums of Squares 259 12.1 Joseph Louis Lagrange 260 12.2 Sums of Two Squares 262 12.3 Sums of More than Two Squares 273 Chapter 13. Fibonacci Numbers and Continued Fractions 285 13.1 The Fibonacci Sequence 286 13.2 Certain Identities Involving Fibonacci Numbers 293 13.3 Finite Continued Fractions 299 13.4 Infinite Continued Fractions 313 13.5 Pell’s Equation 329 Appendixes. 343 The Prime Number Theorem 344 References 351 Suggestions for Further Reading 352 Tables 357 Answers to Selected Problems 381 Index 388PREFACE Plato said, “ God is a geometer.” Jacobi changed this to,“ God is an arithmetician.” Then came Kronecker and fashioned the memorable expression, “God created the natural numbers, and all the rest is the work of man.” Feurx Kien The purpose of the present volume is to give a simple account of classical number theory, as well as to impart some of the historical back- ground in which the subject evolved. While primarily intended for use as a textbook in a one-semester course at the undergraduate level, it is de- signed to be utilized in teachers’ institutes or as supplementary reading in mathematics survey courses. The work is well suited for prospective secondary school teachers for whom the familiarity with a little number theory may be particularly helpful. The theory of numbers has always occupied a unique position in the world of mathematics. This is due to the unquestioned historical importance of the subject: it is one of the few disciplines having demon- strable results which predate the very idea of a university or an academy. Nearly every century since classical antiquity has witnessed new and fascinating discoveries relating to the properties of numbers; and, at some point in their careers, most of the great masters of the mathematical sciences have contributed to this body of knowledge. Why has number theory held such an irresistible appeal for the leading mathematicians and for thousands of amateurs? One answer lies in the basic nature of its problems. While many questions in the field are extremely hard to decide, they can be formulated in terms simple enough to arouse the interest and cutiosity of those without much mathematical training. Some of the sim- plest sounding questions have withstood the intellectual assaults of ages and remain among the most elusive unsolved problems in the whole of mathematics. It therefore comes as something of a surprise to find out how many students look upon number theory with good-humoted indulgence, regarding it as a frippery on the edge of mathematics. This no doubt stems from the view that it is the most obviously useless branch of pure mathe- matics; results in this area have few applications to problems concerning the physical world. At a time when “theoretical science” is treated with impatience, one commonly encounters the mathematics major who knows vvi Preface little or no number theory. This is especially unfortunate, since the elemen- tary theory of numbers should be one of the very best subjects for early mathematical instruction. It requires no long preliminary training, the content is tangible and familiar, and—more than in any other part of mathematics—the methods of inquiry adhere to the scientific approach. The student working in the field must rely to a large extent upon trial and error, in combination with his own curiosity, intuition, and ingenuity; nowhere else in the mathematical disciplines is rigorous proof so often preceded by patient, plodding experiment. If the going occasionally be- comes slow and difficult, one can take comfort in the fact that nearly every noted mathematician of the past has traveled the same arduous road. There is a dictum which says that anyone who desires to get at the root of a subject should first study its history. Endorsing this, we have taken pains to fit the material into the larger historical frame. In addition to enlivening the theotetical side of the text, the historical remarks woven into the presentation bring out the point that number theory is not a dead art, but a living one fed by the efforts of many practitioners. They reveal that the discipline developed bit by bit, with the work of each individual contributor built upon the research of many others; often cen- turies of endeavor were required before significant steps were made. Once the student is aware of how people of genius stumbled and groped their way through the creative process to arrive piecemeal at their results, he is less likely to be discouraged by his own fumblings with the homework problems. A word about the problems. Most sections close with a substan- tial number of them ranging in difficulty from the purely mechanical to challenging theoretical questions. These are an integral part of the book and require the reader’s active participation, for nobody can learn number theory without solving problems. The computational excercises develop basic techniques and test understanding of concepts, while those of a theoretical nature give practice in constructing proofs. Besides conveying additional information about the material covered earlier, the problems introduce a variety of ideas not treated in the body of the text. We have on the whole resisted the temptation to use the problems to introduce results that will be needed thereafter. As a consequence, the reader need not work all the exercises in order to digest the rest of the book. Problems whose solutions do not appear straightforward are frequently accom- panied by hints. Although the text was written with the mathematics major in mind, very little is demanded in the way of formal prerequisites; it could be profitably read by anyone having a sound background in high school mathematics. In particular, a knowledge of the concepts of abstract algebra is not assumed. When used for students who have had such a