Exercise 5.12

Let f ( x ) ∈ ℤ [ x ] . We say that a prime p divides f ( x ) if there’s an integer n such that p ∣ f ( n ) . Describe the prime divisors of x 2 + 1 and x 2 − 2 .

Answers

Proof. p divides x 2 + 1 iff there exists a ∈ ℤ such that − 1 ≡ a 2 ( mod p ) , iff p = 2 or ( − 1 p ) = 1 iff p = 2 or p ≡ 1 ( mod 4 ) .

p divides x 2 − 2 iff there exists a ∈ ℤ such that 2 ≡ a 2 ( mod p ) , iff p = 2 or ( 2 p ) = 1 iff p = 2 or p ≡ ± 1 ( mod 8 ) . □

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2022-07-19 00:00
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