6CCM224B

King’s College London

University Of London

This paper is part of an examination of the College counting towards the award of a degree.
Examinations are governed by the College Regulations under the authority of the Academic
Board.

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BSc and MSci Examination

6CCM224B Introduction to Number Theory

August 2021 Resit/Replacement Examination

Time Allowed: Two Hours

This paper consists of two sections, Section A and Section B.

Section A contributes half the total marks for the paper.
Answer all questions in Section A.
All questions in Section B carry equal marks, but if more than TWO questions
are attempted, then only the best two will count.

You may consult lecture notes and use a calculator.

2021 ©King’s College London

 Section A 6CCM224B

Your answers must contain all necessary calculations and explanations. You
will not get full marks for correct results without correct calculations.

SECTION A

A 1. (a) State Fermat’s Little Theorem.

[2 marks]
(b) Use Hensel’s Lemma to find all the integer solutions to the congruence
equation
x7 + x + 1 ≡ 0 (mod 49).
[8 marks]

(a) Let p and q be odd primes. State the quadratic reciprocity law relating pq


A 2.
and pq .

[2 marks]
149


(b) Both 149 and 271 are prime. Calculate the value of 271 . Show your
working.
[4 marks]
(c) Show that 3 is a quadratic non-residue modulo all primes p of the form
4k 2 + 3.
2
(Hint: Write p = 4k
+ 3 for some integer k and compute the value of the
3
Legendre symbol p .)
[4 marks]

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 Section A 6CCM224B

A 3. (a) Use the Two Squares Theorem to determine whether 2021 = 43 × 47 can be
represented as a sum of two squares. Justify your answer.
[3 marks]
(b) Use the Two Squares Theorem to determine whether 31752 = 23 × 34 × 72
can be represented as a sum of two squares. Justify your answer.
[3 marks]
(c) Suppose that m and n are co-prime integers and mn can be represented a
sum of two squares. Show that both m and n can be represented as a sum of
two squares.
[4 marks]

A 4. State whether the following are True or False. Justify your answer by citing a
result from the lecture notes, providing a proof, or giving a counterexample as
appropriate.
√
(a) 6 + 1 is an algebraic number.
[3 marks]
(b) There exists a sequence of distinct rational numbers (an /bn )n∈N , where an , bn
are integers with bn 6= 0, with
√
3 an 1
12 − < 5.
bn bn

[3 marks]
(c) Let z ∈ C with z 6= 0. If z is algebraic then 1/z is algebraic.
[4 marks]

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 Section B 6CCM224B

SECTION B

B 5. (a) Compute φ(9600). Show your work.

[2 marks]
(b) Show that
Y 1

φ(n) = n 1− .
p
p|n

[4 marks]
(c) Prove that φ(m)φ(n) ≤ φ(mn).
[7 marks]
(d) Show that there are no integers with φ(n) = n/4.
[7 marks]

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 Section B 6CCM224B

B 6. (a) State the definition of a primitive root modulo m.

[2 marks]
(b) Use that 2 is a primitive root modulo 11 to find all integer solutions to the
congruence equation
x8 ≡ 9 (mod 11).
Show your working.
[4 marks]
(c) Let p be a prime number. Prove that the congruence equation

xn ≡ 1 (mod p)

has exactly one solution in Zp for each odd integer n if and only if p is of the
form 2k + 1.
[7 marks]
(d) Let d = gcd(n, p − 1). Suppose a is an integer such that a(p−1)/d ≡ 1
(mod p). Determine the number of solutions in Zp to the congruence equation

xn ≡ a (mod p).

[7 marks]

B 7. (a) State the Chinese Remainder Theorem.

[2 marks]
(b) Show that the congruence equation

x2 + x + 1 ≡ 0 (mod p)

has at least one solution in Zp if and only if p ≡ 0 or 1 (mod 3).

[8 marks]
(c) Suppose n = pa11 pa22 · · · par r where p1 , p2 , . . . , pr are distinct primes, each con-
gruent to 1 modulo 3 and a1 , a2 , . . . , ar are positive integers. Use part (b) to
determine the number of solutions in Zn to the congruence equation

x3 ≡ 1 (mod n).

(Hint: x3 − 1 = (x − 1)(x2 + x + 1).)

[10 marks]

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