Abstract Algebra

• Group
• Ring
• Field
• Finite Fields
 Group
• A group (G,·) is a nonempty set G together with a binary
operation · on G such that the following conditions hold:

• Closure: For all a, b ∈ G the element a + b ∈ G

• Inverse – Each a has an additive inverse
• Associativity: For all a, b, c ∈ G, we have
a + (b + c) = (a + b) + c.
• Identity: There exists an identity element e ∈ G such
that a + 0 = a and a + 0 = a for all a ∈ G.
 Group Examples
The set of integers Z, equipped with the operation of
addition, is an example of a group.
(Z,0) satisfies all the axioms, so it is a group. This group
is abelian, since addition of numbers is commutative.
In the same way, (Q,+), (R,+), (C,+) are groups. These
groups are also abelian.
(N,+) is not a group. It does not satisfy the inverse
axiom; for example, 5 has no inverse in N with respect
to +
 Ring
It consists of a set equipped with two binary
operations that generalize the arithmetic
operations of addition and multiplication.
Rings can also be considered as groups with
additional features.
 Ring
Let R be a set on which two binary operations are defined,
called addition and multiplication, and denoted by + and ·.
Addition
Closure: For all a, b ∈ G the element a + b ∈ G
Inverse – Each a has an additive inverse
Associativity: For all a, b, c ∈ G, we have
a + (b + c) = (a + b) + c.
Identity: There exists an identity element e ∈ G such that
a + 0 = a and a + 0 = a for all a ∈ G.
 Ring
• Multiplication
Associative - a.(b. c) = (a . b).c

No need for a ring to be commutative

No need for it to have multiplicative inverses

Distributive Properties
a·(b+c) = a·b + a·c and (a+b)·c = a·c + b·c
 Ring Examples
• Z, R, and C are all examples for rings with
identity
• A 2X3 matrix is a group but not a ring .
 Field
• A field is a set on which addition, subtraction,
multiplication, and division are defined
– Addition
– Additive Inverse
– Multiplication
– Multiplicative Inverse for every non zero element
 Field Example
Consider the set of rational numbers (a/b)
where a an b are integers and b is not equal to 0
– They are commutative with addition
– They are commutative with multiplication
– All elements have a multiplicative inverse

– Set of Integers do not form a field

– Set of 2X2 matrices do not form a field
 Consider this example
Set of all integers mod 2 Z/2
0 mod 2= 0
1 mod 2 = 1
2 mod 2 = 0
3 mod 2 = 1
4 mod 2 = 0 {0,1}
5 mod 2 = 1
6 mod 2 = 0
 Consider this example
Set of all integers mod 5 Z/5

0 mod 5 = 0
1 mod 5 = 1
2 mod 5 = 2
3 mod 5 = 3
4 mod 5 = 4 {0,1,2,3,4}
5 mod 5 = 0
6 mod 5 = 1
7 mod 5 = 2
8 mod 5 = 3
9 mod 5 = 4
10 mod 5 = 0
Consider this example
 Is this Z/2 a field ?
• {0,1}
– They are commutative with addition
– They are commutative with multiplication
– All elements have a multiplicative inverse
 Is this Z/2 a field ?
• {0,1}
Multiplicative Inverse exist for every non zero
element
The multiplicative inverse for 1 is always 1.
 Finite Field
• Is a field with a finite number of elements.
• The number of elements in a finite field also called as a
Galois field is always prime or power of a prime.
• Finite field exists for only Pm elements where p is prime
and m is a positive integer
• GF(2) = GF(21) = {0,1}
• GF(5) = GF(51) = {0,1,2,3,4}
• GF(81) = GF(34)
• GF(256) = GF(28)
• GF(12) is not a finite field
Finite Field
 Prime Field and Extension Field
• GF(p) is called a prime field when m=1 {0,1…
p-1}
If m>1 then we have GF(Pm) these are called
extension fields.
• We are interested in GF(28) for AES
• The elements in this set are not integers they
are polynomials
Eg
<Z, +> is a group where Z is a set of all integers
<Z,+,*> is a ring
<Q, +,*> is an infinite field where Q is a set of
rational numbers
Finite Field

a 0 1 a 0 1
-a 0 1 a-1 - 1
 Note: My table values can have the
highest polynomial degree as 1.
If I get the degree of polynomial greater
than 1, then the resultant polynomial
must be divided by irreducible
polynomial of degree 2.

Note: The finite elements in GF(2m) will have the highest

degree of the polynomial as m-1 (such as xm-1 …..x1 x0 ) If we get
the degree of polynomial as more than m-1 , then the resultant
polynomial must be divided by irreducible polynomial (or
primitive polynomial )of degree m and mod value should be
entered in the table.

Note: The choice of a different irreducible polynomial P(x) as a modulus leads to different multiplication
answers that still belong to the same field. In a practical sense, the results are not fundamentally different and
two finite fields with the same number of elements (order) are called isomorphic.
Here in GF(23) the table values
can have the highest polynomial
degree as 2. Else we should find
mod with irreducible polynomial
of degree 3.
 What is a Polynomial
• The word polynomial is derived from the greek
words ‘poly’ means ‘many’ and ‘nominal’
means ‘terms’, so altogether it said “many
terms”.
• Terms have coefficient and variable raised to
the power. These terms are connected by
addition or subtraction 3x2+2x-3
• A polynomial can have any number of terms but
not infinite.
Modulus