MATH301-

DISCRETE MATHEMATICS
Chapter 4: Number Theory and
Cryptography

Dr. Nahid Sultana

Email: [email protected]

Copyright © Nahid Sultana 2020-2021.

10/4/2023
 Chapter Motivation
2

❖ Number theory is the part of mathematics devoted to the study of the

integers and their properties.

❖ Key ideas in number theory include divisibility and the primality of integers.
❖ Representations of integers, including binary and hexadecimal
representations, are part of number theory.
❖ Number theory has long been studied because of the beauty of its ideas, its
accessibility, and its wealth of open questions.

❖ Mathematicians have long considered number theory to be pure

mathematics, but it has important applications to computer science and
cryptography studied in Sections 4.5 and 4.6.
Copyright © Nahid Sultana 2020-2021. 10/4/2023
 Chapter Summary
3

4.1 Divisibility and Modular Arithmetic

4.2 Integer Representations and Algorithms
4.3 Primes and Greatest Common Divisors
4.4 Solving Congruences
4.5 Applications of Congruences
4.6 Cryptography

Copyright © Nahid Sultana 2020-2021. 10/4/2023

4.1 Divisibility and Modular Arithmetic
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❖ Division
❖ Division Algorithm
❖ Modular Arithmetic

Copyright © Nahid Sultana 2020-2021. 10/4/2023

 Division
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Definition: If a and b are integers with a ≠ 0, then a divides b if

there exists an integer c such that b = ac.

➢When a divides b we say that a is a factor or divisor of b and

that b is a multiple of a.
➢The notation a | b denotes that a divides b.
➢If a | b, then b/a is an integer.
➢If a does not divide b, we write a ∤ b.

Example: Determine whether 3 | 7 and whether 3 | 12.

Copyright © Nahid Sultana 2020-2021. 10/4/2023
 Properties of Divisibility
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Theorem 1: Let a, b, and c be integers, where a ≠0.

i. If a | b and a | c, then a | (b + c);
ii. If a | b, then a | bc for all integers c;
iii. If a | b and b | c, then a | c.

Corollary: If a, b, and c be integers, where a ≠0, such that a | b and

a | c, then a | mb + nc whenever m and n are integers.

Copyright © Nahid Sultana 2020-2021. 10/4/2023

 Definitions of Functions div and mod

Division Algorithm q = a div d

r = a mod d
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➢ When an integer is divided by a positive integer, there is a quotient and a

remainder. This is traditionally called the “Division Algorithm,”.
Division Algorithm: If a is an integer and d a positive integer, then there are
unique integers q and r, with 0 ≤ r < d, such that a = dq + r
➢ d is called the divisor.
➢ a is called the dividend.
➢ q is called the quotient.
➢ r is called the remainder.
Examples: What are the quotient and remainder when 101 is divided by 11?
Solution: The quotient when 101 is divided by 11 is 9 = 101 div 11, and the
remainder is 2 = 101 mod 11.
Example: What are the quotient and remainder when −11 is divided by 3?
Solution: The quotient when −11 is divided by 3 is −4 = −11 div 3, and the
remainder is 1 = −11 mod 3.
Copyright © Nahid Sultana 2020-2021. 10/4/2023
 Congruence Relation
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Definition: If a and b are integers and m is a positive integer,

then a is congruent to b modulo m if m divides a – b.
➢ The notation a ≡ b (mod m) says that a is congruent to b modulo m.
➢ We say that a ≡ b (mod m) is a congruence and that m is its modulus.
➢ Two integers are congruent mod m if and only if they have the same remainder
when divided by m.
➢ If a is not congruent to b modulo m, we write a ≢ b (mod m)

Example: Determine whether 17 is congruent to 5 modulo 6 and

whether 24 and 14 are congruent modulo 6.
Solution:
➢ 17 ≡ 5 (mod 6) because 6 divides 17 − 5 = 12.
➢ 24 ≢ 14 (mod 6) since 6 divides 24 − 14 = 10 is not divisible
by 6.
Copyright © Nahid Sultana 2020-2021. 10/4/2023
 More on Congruences
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Theorem 4: Let m be a positive integer.

The integers a and b are congruent modulo m if and only if there is
an integer k such that a = b + km.

Copyright © Nahid Sultana 2020-2021. 10/4/2023

The Relationship between (mod m) and
mod m Notations
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➢ The use of “mod” in a ≡ b (mod m) and a mod m = b are

different.
➢ a ≡ b (mod m) is a relation on the set of integers.

➢ In a mod m = b, the notation mod denotes a function.

The relationship between these notations is made clear in this

theorem.

Theorem 3: Let a and b be integers, and let m be a positive integer.

Then a ≡ b (mod m) if and only if a mod m = b mod m.

Copyright © Nahid Sultana 2020-2021. 10/4/2023

 Congruences of Sums and Products
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Theorem 5: Let m be a positive integer.

If a ≡ b (mod m) and c ≡ d (mod m), then
a + c ≡ b + d (mod m) and ac ≡ bd (mod m)

Example: Because 7 ≡ 2 (mod 5) and 11 ≡ 1 (mod 5) , it follows

from Theorem 5 that
18 = 7 + 11 ≡ 2 + 1 = 3 (mod 5)
77 = 7 . 11 ≡ 2 . 1 = 2 (mod 5)

Copyright © Nahid Sultana 2020-2021. 10/4/2023

 Algebraic Manipulation of Congruences
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➢ Multiplying both sides of a valid congruence by an integer preserves

validity.
✓ If a ≡ b (mod m) holds then c∙a ≡ c∙b (mod m), where c is any integer,
holds by Theorem 5 with d = c.
➢ Adding an integer to both sides of a valid congruence preserves validity.
✓ If a ≡ b (mod m) holds then c + a ≡ c + b (mod m), where c is any
integer, holds by Theorem 5 with d = c.
➢ Dividing a congruence by an integer does not always produce a valid
congruence.

Example: The congruence 14≡ 8 (mod 6) holds. But dividing both sides by 2
does not produce a valid congruence since 14/2 = 7 and 8/2 = 4, but
7≢4 (mod 6).
Copyright © Nahid Sultana 2020-2021. 10/4/2023
 Computing the mod m Function of
Products and Sums
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Corollary: Let m be a positive integer and let a and b be integers.

Then (a + b) (mod m) = ((a mod m) + (b mod m)) mod m
and ab mod m = ((a mod m) (b mod m)) mod m.

Example: (−133 mod 23 + 261 mod 23) mod 23

Solution: 128 mod 23=13

Example: (457 mod 23 · 182 mod 23) mod 23

Solution: 83174 mod 23=6

Copyright © Nahid Sultana 2020-2021. 10/4/2023

 Arithmetic Modulo m
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Definitions: Let Zm be the set of nonnegative integers less than m:

{0,1, …., m−1}
❖ The operation +m is defined as a +m b = (a + b) mod m. This is
addition modulo m.
❖ The operation ∙m is defined as a ∙m b = (a . b) mod m. This is
multiplication modulo m.

➢ Using these operations is said to be doing arithmetic modulo m.

Example: Find 7 +11 9 and 7 ∙11 9.
Solution: 7 +11 9 = (7 + 9) mod 11 = 16 mod 11 = 5
7 ∙11 9 = (7 ∙ 9) mod 11 = 63 mod 11 = 8
Copyright © Nahid Sultana 2020-2021. 10/4/2023
 Arithmetic Modulo m
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 The operations +m and ∙m satisfy many of the same properties as

ordinary addition and multiplication.
 Closure: If a and b belong to Zm , then a +m b and a ∙m b belong to
Zm .
 Associativity: If a, b, and c belong to Zm , then
(a +m b) +m c = a +m (b +m c) and (a ∙m b) ∙m c = a ∙m (b ∙m c).
 Commutativity: If a and b belong to Zm , then
a +m b = b +m a and a ∙m b = b ∙m a.
 Identity elements: The elements 0 and 1 are identity elements for
addition and multiplication modulo m, respectively.
◼ If a belongs to Zm , then a +m 0 = a and a ∙m 1 = a.

continued →
Copyright © Nahid Sultana 2020-2021. 10/4/2023
 Arithmetic Modulo m
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 Additive inverses: If a≠ 0 belongs to Zm , then m− a is the additive

inverse of a modulo m and 0 is its own additive inverse.
◼ a +m (m− a ) = 0 and 0 +m 0 = 0
 Distributivity: If a, b, and c belong to Zm , then
◼ a ∙m (b +m c) = (a ∙m b) +m (a ∙m c) and
(a +m b) ∙m c = (a ∙m c) +m (b ∙m c).

Copyright © Nahid Sultana 2020-2021. 10/4/2023

 4.3 Primes and Greatest Common
Divisors
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❖ Prime Numbers and their Properties

❖ Greatest Common Divisors and Least Common
Multiples
❖ The Euclidian Algorithm
❖ gcds as Linear Combinations

Copyright © Nahid Sultana 2020-2021. 10/4/2023

 Primes
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Definition: A positive integer p greater than 1 is called prime if the

only positive factors of p are 1 and p.
A positive integer that is greater than 1 and is not prime is called
composite.

Example:
✓ The integer 7 is prime because its only positive factors are 1 and 7.
✓ but 9 is composite because it is divisible by 3.

Copyright © Nahid Sultana 2020-2021. 10/4/2023

 The Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic
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Theorem: Every positive integer greater than 1 can be written

uniquely as a prime or as the product of two or more primes
where the prime factors are written in order of nondecreasing
size.

Examples:
❖ 100 = 2 ∙ 2 ∙ 5 ∙ 5 = 22 ∙ 52

❖ 641 = 641

❖ 999 = 3 ∙ 3 ∙ 3 ∙ 37 = 33 ∙ 37

❖ 1024 = 2 ∙ 2 ∙ 2 ∙ 2 ∙ 2 ∙ 2 ∙ 2 ∙ 2 ∙ 2 ∙ 2 = 210

Copyright © Nahid Sultana 2020-2021. 10/4/2023

 Greatest Common Divisor
20

Definition: Let a and b be integers, not both zero. The largest integer
d such that d | a and also d | b is called the greatest common
divisor of a and b.
The greatest common divisor of a and b is denoted by gcd(a,b).

We can find greatest common divisors of small numbers by

inspection.
Example: What is the greatest common divisor of 24 and 36?
Solution: gcd(24,36) = 12
Example: What is the greatest common divisor of 17 and 22?
Solution: gcd(17,22) = 1
Copyright © Nahid Sultana 2020-2021. 10/4/2023
 Greatest Common Divisor
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Definition: The integers a and b are relatively prime if their greatest

common divisor is 1.
Example: 17 and 22
Definition: The integers a1, a2, …, an are pairwise relatively prime if
gcd(ai, aj)= 1 whenever 1 ≤ i<j ≤n.
Example: Determine whether the integers 10, 17 and 21 are pairwise
relatively prime.
Solution: 10, 17, and 21 are pairwise relatively prime, because
gcd(10,17) = 1, gcd(10,21) = 1, and gcd(17,21) = 1.
Example: Determine whether the integers 10, 19, and 24 are pairwise
relatively prime.
Solution: 10, 19, and 24 are not pairwise relatively prime, because
gcd(10,24) = 2
Copyright © Nahid Sultana 2020-2021. 10/4/2023
 Finding the Greatest Common Divisor
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Using Prime Factorizations
➢ Suppose the prime factorizations of a and b are:

where each exponent is a nonnegative integer. Then:

Example: 120 = 23 ∙3 ∙5, 500 = 22 ∙53

gcd(120,500) = 2min(3,2) ∙3min(1,0) ∙5min(1,3) = 22 ∙30 ∙51 = 20

➢ Finding the gcd of two positive integers using their prime factorizations is not
efficient because there is no efficient algorithm for finding the prime
factorization of a positive integer.
Copyright © Nahid Sultana 2020-2021. 10/4/2023
 Least Common Multiple
23

Definition: The least common multiple of the positive integers a and b is the
smallest positive integer that is divisible by both a and b.
It is denoted by lcm(a,b).
➢ The least common multiple can also be computed from the prime
factorizations.

Example: lcm(233572, 243370) = 2max(3,4) 3max(5,3) 7max(2,0) = 24 35 72

Example: gcd(233572, 243370) = 2min(3,4) 3min(5,3) 7min(2,0) = 23 33 70
Theorem 5: Let a and b be positive integers. Then
𝑎𝑏 233572 ∗ 243370
ab = gcd(a,b) ∙lcm(a,b) ⇒ lcm(a,b)= = 3 3 0 = 24 35 72
gcd(a,b) 2 3 7
𝑎𝑏 572 ∗ 243370
233Copyright
⇒ gcd(a,b)= = = 232020-2021.
© Nahid Sultana 33 70 10/4/2023
lcm(a,b) 4
2 3 7 5 2
 Euclidean Algorithm
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➢ The Euclidian algorithm is an efficient method for computing the

greatest common divisor of two integers.
➢ It is based on the idea that gcd(a,b) is equal to gcd(a,c) when a > b
and c is the remainder when a is divided by b.
Example: Find gcd(91, 287):
◼ 287 = 91 ∙ 3 + 14
Divide 287 by 91
◼ 91 = 14 ∙ 6 + 7
Divide 91 by 14
◼ 14 = 7 ∙ 2 + 0 Divide 14 by 7
Stopping condition

gcd(287, 91) = gcd(91, 14) = gcd(14, 7) = 7

Copyright © Nahid Sultana 2020-2021. 10/4/2023

 Finding gcds as Linear Combinations
ax+by is the linear combination of a and b, where x and y are constant
25 Actual goal for this problem: 18=252x+198y, need to find x=? And y=?
Example: Express gcd(252,198) = 18 as a linear combination of 252 and 198.
Solution: First use the Euclidean algorithm to show gcd(252,198) = 18
i. 252 = 1∙198 + 54 (dividend=q*d+r)
ii. 198 = 3 ∙54 + 36 ✓ This method is a two pass method.
iii. 54 = 1 ∙36 + 18 ✓ It first uses the Euclidian algorithm to
iv. 36 = 2 ∙18+0 find the gcd and then works
backwards to express the gcd as a
➢ Now working backwards, from iii and i above linear combination of the original two
➢ 18 = 54 − 1 ∙36 integers.
➢ 36 = 198 − 3 ∙54
➢ 54=252-1.198
❖ Substituting the 2nd equation into the 1st yields:
❖ 18 = 54 − 1 ∙(198 − 3 ∙54 )= 4 ∙54 − 1 ∙198
❖ Substituting 3rd yields:
❖ 18 = 4 ∙(252 − 1 ∙198) − 1 ∙198 = 4 ∙252 − 5 ∙198
Copyright © Nahid Sultana 2020-2021. 10/4/2023
 Uniqueness of Prime Factorization
26

❖ A prime factorization of a positive integer where the primes

are in nondecreasing order is unique.

Copyright © Nahid Sultana 2020-2021. 10/4/2023