Exercise 3.7

Use Ex. 2.6 to give another proof of Euler’s theorem, a ϕ ( n ) ≡ 1 ( mod n ) for ( a , n ) = 1 .

Answers

Proof. The proof is more clear if we stay in ℤ ∕ nℤ .

Let P = ∏ ⁡ x ∈ U ( ℤ ∕ nℤ ) x

(if { a 1 , … , a ϕ ( n ) } is a reduced residue system modulo n , then P = ∏ ⁡ i = 1 ϕ ( n ) a i ¯ .)

Let a ∈ ℤ such that a ∧ n = 1 , then b = a ¯ ∈ U ( ℤ ∕ nℤ ) . We define

ψ { U ( ℤ ∕ nℤ ) → U ( ℤ ∕ nℤ ) x ↦ bx .

∙ Then ψ ( x ) = ψ ( x ′ ) ⇒ bx = b x ′ ⇒ b − 1 bx = b − 1 b x ′ ⇒ x = x ′ , so ψ is injective.

∙ Let y ∈ U ( ℤ ∕ nℤ ) . If x = b − 1 y , then ψ ( x ) = b b − 1 y = y , so ψ is surjective.

ψ is a bijection, so

∏ x ∈ U ( ℤ ∕ nℤ ) bx = ∏ x ∈ U ( ℤ ∕ nℤ ) x ,

that is

b ϕ ( n ) ∏ x ∈ U ( ℤ ∕ nℤ ) x = ∏ x ∈ U ( ℤ ∕ nℤ ) x .

As y = ∏ ⁡ x ∈ U ( ℤ ∕ nℤ ) x is in the group U ( ℤ ∕ nℤ ) , y is invertible, thus

b ϕ ( n ) = 1 .

That is a ¯ ϕ ( n ) = 1 : for all a ∈ ℤ , if a ∧ n = 1 , then a ϕ ( n ) ≡ 1 ( mod n ) . □

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2022-07-19 00:00
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