Number Theory

Student Name: Hakim Rasull Muhammad

Class: 2nd Stage – Group/B

Course Title: Discrete Mathematics
Department: Software and Informatics

College of Engineering
Salahaddin University-Erbil
Academic Year 2019-2020

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 ABSTRACT

Number theory is the study of the integers (e.g. whole numbers) and related
objects. Topics studied by number theorists include the problem of
determining the distribution of prime numbers within the integers and the
structure and number of solutions of systems of polynomial equations with
integer coefficients. Many problems in number theory, while simple to
state, have proofs that involve apparently unrelated areas of mathematics.
A beautiful illustration is given by the use of complex analysis to prove the
“Prime Number Theorem,” which gives an asymptotic formula for the
distribution of prime numbers. Yet other problems currently studied in
number theory call upon deep methods from harmonic analysis.

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 CONTENTS

Abstract 2

Contents 3

Introduction 4

Background & Review 5

Methods 8

Theory / Design/ Outcomes 11

Conclusion 13

References 14

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 INTRODUCTION

Number theory is a branch of pure mathematics devoted primarily to the

study of the integers and integer-valued functions. German
mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777–1855) said, "Mathematics is the
queen of the sciences—and number theory is the queen of mathematics.
Number theorists study prime numbers as well as the properties of objects
made out of integers (for example, rational numbers) or defined as
generalizations of the integers (for example, algebraic integers).

Integers can be considered either in themselves or as solutions to equations

(Diophantine geometry). Questions in number theory are often best
understood through the study of analytical objects (for example,
the Riemann zeta function) that encode properties of the integers, primes or
other number-theoretic objects in some fashion (analytic number theory).
One may also study real numbers in relation to rational numbers, for
example, as approximated by the latter (Diophantine approximation).

The older term for number theory is arithmetic. By the early twentieth
century, it had been superseded by "number theory". (The word
"arithmetic" is used by the general public to mean "elementary
calculations"; it has also acquired other meanings in mathematical logic, as
in Peano arithmetic, and computer science, as in floating point arithmetic.)
The use of the term arithmetic for number theory regained some ground in
the second half of the 20th century, arguably in part due to French
influence.] In particular, arithmetical is preferred as an adjective to number-
theoretic.

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 BACKGROUND & REVIEW

Math is the Universe’s natural tongue. Since the very beginning of our
existence as a species, numbers have deeply fascinated us. Often inviting
our greatest thinkers to unravel the many, deep mysteries of the cosmos, the
study of natural numbers, Number Theory, is one of the oldest branches of
mathematics.

The pureness of Number Theory has captivated mathematicians generation

after generation — each contributing to the branch that Carl Gauss
described as the “Queen of Mathematics.” Until relatively recent
breakthroughs, Number Theory reigned as the king of pure math. Today,
however, a basic understanding of Number Theory is an absolutely critical
precursor to cutting-edge software engineering, specifically security-based
software. Number Theory is at the heart of cryptography — which is itself
experiencing a fascinating period of rapid evolution, ranging from the
famous RSA algorithm to the wildly-popular blockchain world.

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Two distinct moments in history stand out as inflection points in the
development of Number Theory. First, in archaic times, Euclid put forth his
GCD (Greatest Common Divisor) algorithm — a brilliant set of steps that
simplifies fractions to their simplest form using geometrical observations.
Then, approximately two-thousand years later, Karl Gauss formalized
Euclid’s principles by marrying together Euclid’s informal writings with his
own extensive proofs in the timeless Disquistiones Arithmeticae.

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Euclid & The Greatest Common Divisor

The origin of Number Theory as a branch dates all the way back to the

B.Cs, specifically to the lifetime of one Euclid. An extraordinary
mathematician, Euclid of Alexandria, also known as the “Father of
Geometry,” put forth one of the oldest “algorithms” (here meaning a set of
step-by-step operations) recorded. This algorithm, the Greatest Common
Divisor, stands the test of time as our kickoff point for Number Theory due
to the fascinating properties it highlighted in natural numbers.

Gauss & The Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic

The following large leap in Number Theory stems from a break-through

approximately ~2000 years after Euclid. At the stunning young age of 21,
one Carl Gauss put forward a dissertation that married Euclid’s elements
with then-modern math. His masterpiece publication, Disquistiones
Arithmeticate (loosely translated to “Arithmetical Investigations) packed
multiple brilliant & precise methods that, while not necessarily all his
original work, aggregated & systematized the field of Number Theory. With
this publication he established the branch by formalizing previously
scattered & informal methods, providing original answers to important
outstanding problems, & founding the landscape for future contributors.

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 METHODS

For thousands of years people have searched for the way to send a message
secretly. There is a story that, in ancient time, a king needed to send a
secret message to his general in battle. The king took a servant, shaved his
head and wrote the message on his head. He waited for the servant’s hair to
grow back and then sent the servant to the general. The general then shaved
the servant’s head and read the message. If the enemy had captured the
servant, they presumably would not have known to shave his head and
message would have been safe. Cryptography is the study of methods to
send and receive the secret messages. In general we have a sender who is
trying to send a message to receiver. There is also an adversary, who wants
to steal the message. We are successful if sender is able to communicate a
message to the receiver without adversary learning what the message was.

We will use some important concepts of Number Theory and

Cryptography which are given below:

Important concepts in Number Theory Prime Numbers- A positive integer

p is said to be a prime if it has only two factors namely 1 and p itself. For
Example: Primes are 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17 … Divisors: A positive integer a
is said to divide an integer b if there exist an integer c such that b  a.c and
written as a | b . For Example 2 |10 as 10 = 2.5 but 3 do not divide 10 as
there does not exist any integer c such that 10 = 3. c Greatest Common
Divisor: Let a and b be two positive integers then an integer d is called

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greatest common divisor of a and b if d | a and d | b i.e. d is common
divisor of a and b .

And if any integer c is such that c | a and c | b then c | d i.e. any other
common divisor of a and b will divide d it is denoted by d  (a,b)

For Example: 6  (24,30)

Two numbers a and b are said to relatively prime or co prime if their

greatest common divisor is 1 i.e. (a,b) 1

For Example: 10 and 11 are co prime

Congruence: Let a and b be two integers and m is any positive integer then
a is said to congruent to b modulo m if m divide difference of a and b i.e.
m| a b . It is denoted by a  b(modm) For Example: 27 13(mod 4)

Euler’s ‘  ’ Function : An arithmetic function Euler’s Toitent function ‘ ’

is defined as n = number of positive integers less than or equal to n and
co prime to n i.e. n = number of positive integers ‘ a ’ such that 1 a  n
and g.c.d. a,n 1

For Example: 15  8 as primes relative to 15 are given by 1, 2, 4, 7, 8,

11, 13, and 14.

And (mn) (m)(n) where m and n are relatively prime. Some simple
properties of congruence are given below: (1) a  b(modm) iff b  a(mod
m) (2) a  b  c (modm) iff a c  b(modm) (3) (mod ) a1  b1 m and (mod
) a2  b2 m then (mod ) a1  a2  b1 b2 m (4) a  b(modm) and c is any
integer then ca  cb(modm) (5) a  mk  a(modm) where k is any integer.

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Important concepts in Cryptography

(1) Cryptography is the study of methods to send and receive secret

message.

(2) The sender wants to send a message to receiver.

(3) The adversary wants to steal the message.

(4) In private key cryptography, the sender and receiver agree in advance
on a secret code, and then send message using that code.

(5) In public key cryptography the encoding method can be published.

Each person has a public key used to encrypt message and a secret key
used to encrypt an encrypted message.

(6) The original message is called the Plain text.

(7) The encoded text is called Cipher text.

(8) A Caesar cipher is one in which each letter of the alphabet is shifted by
a fixed point.

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 THEORY / DESIGN / OUTCOMES

While the word algorithm goes back only to certain readers of al-

Khwārizmī, careful descriptions of methods of solution are older than
proofs: such methods (that is, algorithms) are as old as any recognisable
mathematics—ancient Egyptian, Babylonian, Vedic, Chinese—whereas
proofs appeared only with the Greeks of the classical period.

An interesting early case is that of what we now call the Euclidean

algorithm. In its basic form (namely, as an algorithm for computing
the greatest common divisor) it appears as Proposition 2 of Book VII
in Elements, together with a proof of correctness. However, in the form that
is often used in number theory (namely, as an algorithm for finding integer
solutions to an equation , or, what is the same, for finding the quantities
whose existence is assured by the Chinese remainder theorem) it first
appears in the works of Āryabhaṭa (5th–6th century CE) as an algorithm
called kuṭṭaka ("pulveriser"), without a proof of correctness.

There are two main questions: "Can we compute this?" and "Can we
compute it rapidly?" Anyone can test whether a number is prime or, if it is
not, split it into prime factors; doing so rapidly is another matter. We now
know fast algorithms for testing primality, but, in spite of much work (both
theoretical and practical), no truly fast algorithm for factoring.

The difficulty of a computation can be useful: modern protocols

for encrypting messages (for example, RSA) depend on functions that are
known to all, but whose inverses are known only to a chosen few, and
would take one too long a time to figure out on one's own.

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For example, these functions can be such that their inverses can be
computed only if certain large integers are factorized. While many difficult
computational problems outside number theory are known, most working
encryption protocols nowadays are based on the difficulty of a few number-
theoretical problems.
Some things may not be computable at all; in fact, this can be proven in
some instances. For instance, in 1970, it was proven, as a solution
to Hilbert's 10th problem, that there is no Turing machine which can solve
all Diophantine equations.

In particular, this means that, given a computably enumerable set of

axioms, there are Diophantine equations for which there is no proof,
starting from the axioms, of whether the set of equations has or does not
have integer solutions. (We would necessarily be speaking of Diophantine
equations for which there are no integer solutions, since, given a
Diophantine equation with at least one solution, the solution itself provides
a proof of the fact that a solution exists.

We cannot prove that a particular Diophantine equation is of this kind,

since this would imply that it has no solutions.)

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 CONCLUSION

The number theory helps discover interesting relationships between

different sorts of numbers and to prove that these are true . Number Theory
is partly experimental and partly theoretical. Experimental part leads to
questions and suggests ways to answer them. The theoretical part tries to
devise an argument which gives a conclusive answer to the questions.

Here are the steps to follow:

1. Accumulate numerical data

2. Examine the data and find the patterns and relationships.
3. Formulate conjectures that explain the patterns and relationships.
4. Test the conjectures by collecting additional data and check whether the
new information fits or not
5. Devise an argument that conjectures are correct. All the steps are
important in number theory and in mathematics. A scientific theory is an
ability to predict the outcome of experiments. In mathematics one requires
the step of a proof, that is, a logical sequence of assertions, starting from
known facts and ending at the desired statement.

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 REFERENCES

1) Number Theory — History & Overview

https://towardsdatascience.com/number-theory-history-
overview-8cd0c40d0f01

2) Number Theory
https://math.duke.edu/research/number-theory

3) Neugebauer & Sachs 1945, p. 40. The term takiltum is

problematic. Robson prefers the rendering "The holding-square of
the diagonal from which 1 is torn out, so that the short side comes
up...".Robson 2001, p. 192

4) G.H. Hardy, E.M. Wright, "An introduction to the theory of

numbers" , Oxford Univ. Press (1979) pp. Chapt. XVI.

5) Definition of Number Theory

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/definition/number-theory

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