Cyclotomic Polynomial Factors

Author(s): Richard Grassl and Tabitha T. Y. Mingus

Source: The Mathematical Gazette, Vol. 89, No. 515 (Jul., 2005), pp. 195-201
Published by: Mathematical Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3621216
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CYCLOTOMICPOLYNOMIALFACTORS 195

Cyclotomicpolynomialfactors
RICHARDGRASSL and TABITHAT.Y. MINGUS

1. Introduction
The n th roots of unity play a key role in abstractalgebra, providing a
rich link between groups, vectors, regular n-gons, and algebraic
factorizations. This richness permitsextensive study. A historicalexample
of this interest is the 1938 challenge levelled by the Soviet mathematician
N. G. Chebotarev(see [1] or [2]). His question was 'Are the coefficients of
the irreduciblefactors in Z [n] of x" - 1 always from the set {-1, 0, 1}?'
Massive tables of data were compiled, but attemptsto prove the results for
all n failed. Three years later, V. Ivanov [3] proved that all polynomials
xn - 1, where n < 105, had the propertythat when fully factoredover the
integers all coefficients were in the set {-1, 0, 1}. However, one of the
factors of x105- 1 contains two coefficients that are -2.* Ivanov further
proved for which n such factorisationswould occur and which term in the
factor would have the anomalous coefficients. A twist that makes this
historical episode more intriguingis that Bloom [4] creditedBang [5] with
making this discovery in 1895, predatingthe Chebotarevchallenge by more
thanfour decades.t
Recall that an nth root of unity is said to be primitive if it is not a dth
root of unity for any other divisor d of n than d = n. Let
R = cos I + i sin 2. When n = 6, R and R5are the primitive6th roots of
unity. Rk is a primitive root of unity if, and only if, k and n are relatively
prime. Euler's q-function, q (n), gives the numberof primitiven th roots of
unity. There is a unique monic polynomial n,(x) having degree qp(n),
whose roots are the distinct primitive nth roots of unity. n, (x) is called a
cyclotomic polynomial. It is well known that ?, (x) has integer coefficients
and is irreducible. Since each nth root of unity is a primitive dth root of
unity for some divisor d of n the polynomial x' - 1 can be factorised as
x" - 1 = ln (d (x), where the productis taken over all divisors d of n. We
shall exploit these importantfacts in our final theorem.

2. More generalfactorisations
A series of seemingly similar numbersequences are investigatedin the
following problem: Question: Which numbersin these infinite sequences
are prime?
101, 10101, 1010101, 101010101, ... (1)
1001, 1001001, 1001001001, ... (2)
10001, 100010001, 1000100010001, .... (3)
This question has appeared in various settings, usually related to
* This example can be quickly verified using Mathematica.
t Ourthanksto the referee for alertingus to the 'creditconfusion' in this historicalaccount.

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196 THEMATHEMATICAL
GAZE
'I E

problem solving or mathematicalcompetitions. A powerful and useful

methodof attackfor resolving such questionsof primalityinvolves factoring
polynomials. Each of the number sequences in the problem stated above
can be rewrittenin expandedbase 10 notation. For example, the first three
terms in sequence (1) can be written as 102 + 1, 104 + 102 + 1,
106 + 104 + 102 + 1. We define the difference between successive
powers of 10, and equivalently,between consecutive ones, to be an n-gap.
For example, each termin sequence (1) has a 2-gap.
We now follow Polya's advice to 'place the problem in a more general
setting' by replacing the base 10 by the indeterminatex. The integers in
sequence (1) are thus replaced by the polynomials x2 + 1, x4 + x2 + 1,
x6 + x4 2 + 1. The case where n = 1
yields repunit numbers 1, 11,
111, ..., and a similar exchange in repunit numbers quickly reveals the
connection to cyclotomic polynomials. If one of these polynomials has
proper factors in Z[x], so does the correspondingterm in our original
sequence of integers, for this latter term is simply the value of the
polynomial when x = 10. For example, letting x = 10 in the factorisation
x6 + x4 + x2 + 1 = (x2 + 1)(x4 + 1) gives the factorization 1010101 =
(101)(10001) of the thirdtermin (1). The reducibility of such a
polynomial in Z[x] is sufficient to guarantee factorability of the
correspondinginteger term, but this is not a necessary condition. The
polynomial x6 + x3 + 1 is irreducible,but the digit-sum test shows that
1001001 is divisible by 3.

3. Thefirst numbersequence
Given the procedure described above, it is easy to show that each
number in sequence (1), with the exception of 101, is composite. The
polynomial for the mth term of sequence (1) is x2m + x2m-2 + ... + x2 + 1.
When m = 3, 5, ... these polynomials factoriseby groupingas
x2m-2(x2 + 1) +X2m-6(X2+ 1) + (X + 1)

= (X2 + 1)(X2m-2 + X2m-6 + ... +1).

This factorisationsimply restatesthe obvious fact that 101 divides each term
in the subsequence 101, 1010101, 10101010101, .. When
m = 2, 4, 6, 8, ... the polynomials x2m+x2m-2+ ... +x2+1 have an
odd number of summands. Some cannot be factored by grouping.
However, they can be written as a quotient that allows factoring as a
differenceof two squares:
X2m
+2n- 2 X 2m+2 x +1
I? 1 +I
X + + ... + x2 +1 =
x2-! x-l x+1
Since m is even, m + 1 is odd, so
2m 2
X + ... + +
... -
(Xm + x-1 + .+-x + 1)
. (xm.- X- + X + 1).

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CYCLOTOMIC
POLYNOMIAL
FACTORS 197

There are many other observationsthat could lead to this same conclusion.
It is the algebraic connection, and subsequent polynomial factorisation
techniquesthatare most intriguingand fruitful.

4. Thesecond sequence
What is the nature of the numbersin sequence (2)? The polynomials
1 + X3 + x6 + ... + x3mfactoriseby groupingwhen m is odd. We have
3m 3m - 3 3m - 6 3m - 9
+ + + + +

= 3m- 3(X3 + ) + 3m 9(X3 + 1) +... + (X3 + 1)

(X3+ 1)(3m-3 + 3m- + ... + 1).

When m is even and of the form 3k or 3k + 1, the polynomials
x3m + x3m-3 + ... + x3 + 1 cannot be factorised by such grouping, but
submit to a differenttechnique. For example, when m = 6 the polynomial
1 + x3 + x6 + x9 + x12 + X15 + x18 can be expressed as
x21 -1 x7 - i1)(x4 + x +
x3 - 1 x - \ X2 + x + 1
/
' 14
7
x7+
(X + x5 + ...+ x + )1( X2 X + 1 )
+
If we can show the second factor to be a polynomial in Z [x] we would be
done. The following well-documentedresult (see [6] or [7]) proves helpful
in this case.

Lemma1: x2m + Xm+ 1 is divisible byx2 + x + 1 if and only ifm ? 3k,

k = 1, 2, ....
Proof: The roots of x2 + x + 1 = 0 are the two primitive roots of x3 - 1 = 0;
namely, w = (-1 + /3i), and w2 = (-1 - /3i). Since C3 = 1, we
have w3m+1 = o and W3m+2 = c2. x2 + X + 1 is a factor of
Now,
x2m + xm + 1 if and only if o is a root of x2m + xm+ 1 = 0 (since roots occur
in conjugate pairs). If m = 3k + 1, o6k+2 + w3k+ + 1 = (w2 + ) + 1 = 0. If
m = 3k + 2, o6k+4 + +3k+2+ 1 =-4 + w22 + 1 = Ct+ C)2+ 1 = 0. But if
m = 3k,wo6k + w3k + 1 = 1 + 1 + 1 = 3 ? 0.

Theorem 1: 1 + x3 x6 + ... + 3m factorises in Z[x] when m = 3k or

m = 3k + 1, fork = 1, 2, 3, ....
Proof: When m = 3k,
3 6
+ 9k X9k+3 1 X3kl 1 x6k+2 + X3k+ + 1
1 +x3+X+ ... +x 3= .
x3- 1 x- 1 x2 +x + 1
The first factor is clearly in Z [x] and, by Lemma 1, the second is also.
Similarly,form = 3k + 1,
k+2 +x3k+2 + 1
+31x+ .6 + . + x9k+3 -6k+4

~~~~~~~xis in Z2 [n]
is in Z [n].

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198 THEMATHEMATICAL
GAZET
TE

A mild anomaly occurs in the remainingcase when m = 3k + 2. For

odd k, 1 + x3 + x6 + ... + x3m factorises by groupingas before. For k = 0,
1 + x3 + x6 is irreduciblebut 1001001 factorises.
The remaining missing degree cases, which correspondto when k is
even, are those that are congruentto 6 (mod 18) and are easily handledby
groupingusing triplesinsteadof pairs.
Theorem2: 1 +X3+6 + ... +l8h+3 +xl18h+6 factorises in Z[n] for
h= 1, 2....
Proof:
(1 + X + 6 + ... x8h+3 + x8h+6)

18
= +X3 +x9 + ... -X18h-9 + x8h).
(I +X6)(l

Since 1001 and 1001001 are composite, Theorems 1 and 2 show that all
3-gap numbers are composite. When k = 2 (m = 8), an interesting
technological anomaly occurs. While the TI-92 shows the polynomial
1 + X3 + X6 + ... + X24 to be irreducible it quickly factors
1001001001001001001001001, its number sequence mate, as
9.757.333667.440334654777631, whereasMathematicafactorsboth.

5. The thirdsequence
Does sequence (3) behave in a similar manner and what polynomial
factorisationsare involved? The following analogueof Lemma 1 will help.

Lemma 2: x3 + x2 + x + 1 divides x3m + x2ml+ xm+ 1 in Z[x] if, and

only if, m is odd.
Proof: Since x4 - 1 = (X - l)(x3 + 2 + x + 1), the cubic polynomial
x3 + x2 x + 1 divides x3m + x2m + n + 1 if, and only if, the three
zeros wc,o2 and o3 of the cubic factor are zeros of x3m X2m
+ + Xn + 1. Let
m = 2k + 1, and evaluate X6k x + 2k+ + 1 at , 2, and 3 (or
equivalently at co, -1, -w where co = i), as in Lemma 1, and the result
follows.

Theorem3: All 4-gap numbersare composite.

Proof: The m th 4-gap number corresponds to the polynomial

+ 4 + 1. Ifm > 1 is odd (for m = 1, 10001 = 73.137) the
x4m + X4m-4 + ...
polynomial factors by grouping as (x4 + 1)(x4m 4 + 4m- 12 + ... + ). If m
is even, m + 1 is odd and Lemma2 applies, showing that:
x 4mn4+ 1
X4m m4 + + 4 + X4 -4

x4-1
3(m 2(
= ++1 x 1) + Xmm + 1\

\ i1 h of t t f+ + 1
with each of the two factorsin Z [x].

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CYCLOTOMICPOLYNOMIALFACTORS 199

The condition for divisibility in Lemma 1, thatm ? 3k, is equivalentto

(m,3) = 1 (i.e. 3 and m are relatively prime); similarly, in Lemma 2, the
condition that m must be odd is equivalentto (m,4) = 1 (only 4k + 1, and
4k + 3 are odd among 4k, 4k + 1, 4k + 2, 4k + 3). It is now easy to state a
similarresult that would be useful in the 5-gap case.

Lemma 3: The polynomial x4 + x3 + x2 + x + 1 divides

X4m + X3m+ X2m+ Xm+ 1in Z [x] if, and only if, (m,5) = 1.

The 5-gap case is now handled in the following. The polynomial

1 + x5 + x? + ... + x5mfactorises when m = 5k, 5k + 1, 5k + 2 and
5k + 3, using the geometric sum technique along with Lemma 3. When
m = 5k + 4, this polynomial factors by groupingin pairs for odd k. When
k is even, say k = 2h, the following occurs:
1 + X5 + 10 + 5 ... +50 + 20

75 ..
=(1 + x5+ X10 + X15 + X20)(1 + x25 + X50 + + + 50h).

When h = 0, 1 + +x5 +0 x'5 + x20 is irreducible but its mate

100001000010000100001 has 21401 as a factor. Hence, all numbersin the
5-gap sequence are composite.
6. a-gap sequences
Each numberin the a-gap sequence correspondsto a polynomial of the
form
= (n- )a (n - 2)a
f(x) + X2a + Xa + 1.

For any particularvalue of a, we were able to determinethe reducibility

of f (x) using ad hoc techniques that are interesting in themselves from a
polynomialfactorisationviewpoint but are a bit inefficient in general.
Another approach combines the power of the theory of cyclotomic
polynomials and quotients of the type utilised in the proofs of Theorems 1
and 3. The polynomial (x) can be written as the quotient (na - l)/(xa- 1)
and thus as a quotientof productsof cyclotomic polynomials,namely

n (d n ( d (X) .
(X)
\d na I da

This quotientcan now be easily simplified by canceling those factors Dd(x)

where d I na and d I a, to yield f(x) = HId,eD>d(X) where
D = {d : d | na and - d a}. This simplified form of f(x) reveals
quickly whether it is irreducible or not. If D is not a singleton, f (x) is
written as a product of two or more irreduciblepolynomials. Otherwise,
f (x) is writtenas a single cyclotomic polynomial and is clearly irreducible.
Ourfinal theoremis as follows:

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200 THE MATHEMATICALGAZEllTE

Theorem 4: x(n- )a+x(n-2)a + ... +x2a + xa + is irreducible in Z [x] if,

and only if, n = p and a = pk for some primep, and some non-negative
integerk.
It will help the reader to examine the following three cases prior to
provingthis theorem.
Case1 Case2 Case3
n 3 3 9
a 9 18 3
f(x) x18 + X9 + 1 X36 + X18 + 1 X24+X21 ... +3+ 1

Divisors of a {1, 3, 9} {1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 18} {1, 3}

Divisors ofna {1, 3, 9, 27} {1, 2, 3, 6, 9, 18, 27, 54} {1, 3, 9, 27}
Hd E D Od (X) (27 (X) 027 (X) (54 (X) (9 (X) (27 (X)

Case 1 satisfies the hypotheses of the theorem and thus f(x) is

irreducible;however, the sum of the digits of the correspondingnumberis
divisible by three and hence is composite. Case 2 does not satisfy the
hypotheses of the theorembecause a is the productof a power of the prime
p = n and anotherprime q (q = 2 in this case). Thus, when simplifying
the quotient of cyclotomic polynomial factors the divisors 27 = 32+1 and
54 = 2 x 32+1 remainin the numerator. Notice that we could not use the
results of Lemma 2 for either case 1 or 2 to determineif the polynomials
were reducible. Case 3 does not satisfy the hypothesesof the theorem. As a
result, when simplifying the quotientof cyclotomic polynomialfactors there
are two factors that remain in the numerator,those associated with the
factors 9 and 27. Alternatively, we could have noticed thatf (x) can be
factored by grouping in threes. Seeing what happens in cases 2 and 3 we
now proceedwith the proof of theorem4.

Proof: Suppose that f(x) is irreducible. Since Dd(X) is irreducible in

Z [x] Vd E D, then nId DDd (X) must consist solely of one term; otherwise
f (x) would consist of at least two factors and hence be reducible. Thus D is
a singleton subset, namely {na}. Since the set D consists of the divisors of
na but not divisors of a, D consists of the properdivisors of n. Suppose to
the contrarythat n is not prime. Then 3r E Z+ such that r is a proper
divisor of n. Then ra E D since ra > a and ra na. Thus D would consist
of at least two elements, namely {ra, na}, a contradiction. Therefore, n
must be some primep. Let pkbe the highest power of p thatdivides a. Then
a = pkb for some b E Z+. Thus we have that na =pa = p(pkb) = pk+lb.
Hence D contains both pk + 1 and pk + lb. Thus pk +1 = pk + b and we have
that b = 1. Hence a = pk. Now suppose that n is some primep and that
a = pk for some non-negative integer k. Since na = '+ 1, D consists
+
solely of {pk 1}. Hence fnd ED d (X) = D,,a(X) which is irreducible.

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CYCLOTOMICPOLYNOMIALFACTORS 201

7. Conclusion
With this result we can conclude that for fixed a > 2 there is at most
one polynomial that is irreducible and hence for any a-gap sequence of
numbersthereis at most one term that is prime. For a = 2, 3, 4 and 5, the
correspondingirreduciblepolynomials are x2 + 1, x6 + x3 + 1, x4 + 1 and
x20 x15 + + x5 + 1; for a = 6 there are none since 6 is not a power
of a prime. The corresponding numbers are 101 (prime), 1001001
(composite), 10001 (composite) and 100001000010000100001 (composite),
as determinedby using Mathematicaor a TI-92.
The original question (and more) has been answered. Finally,
reminiscent of the Chebotarevconjecture, we note here that the quotients
producedin Lemmas 1, 2, and 3 seem, based on significant compiled data,
to be symmetricpolynomials whose coefficients are in the set {-1, 0, 1}.
The analysis of these polynomials will appearin a laterpaper.

Acknowledgement
The authorsexpress their thanks to the referee for contributionsin the
formulationof Theorem 4, and for bringing to our attentionthe articles by
Bang, Bloom, and Lehmer.

References
1. I. S. Sominskii, The Method of Mathematical Induction, Blaisdell
Publishing(1961).
2. D. H. Lehmer,Some propertiesof the cyclotomic polynomials,Journal
of MathematicalAnalysis and Applications,15 (1966) pp 105-114.
3. V. Ivanov, On propertiesof the coefficients of the irreducibleequation
for the partitionof the circle. UspekhiMatem. Nauk 9 (1941) pp. 313-
317.
4. D. M. Bloom, On the coefficients of the cyclotomic polynomials.
AmericanMath.Monthly,75 (1968) pp 372-377.
5. A. S. Bang, Om Ligningen (n (x) = 0, Nyt Tidsskriftfor Mathematik,
AfdelingB, 6 (1895) pp 6-12.
6. C. T. Salkind, Factorizationof a2n + an + 1, Mathematics Magazine
38 (1965) p. 163.
7. Bryant Tuckerman, Factorization of x2n + xn + 1 using cyclotomic
polynomials,MathematicsMagazine 42 (1969) pp. 41-42.
RICHARDGRASSL
Universityof NorthernColorado, Greeley, CO 80639
e-mail: Richard.Grassl@unco.edu
TABITHAT.Y. MINGUS
WesternMichigan University,Kalamazoo,MI 49008
e-mail: Tabitha.Mingus@wmich.edu

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