Cryptography Reference
In-Depth Information
APPENDIX F
Arithmetic and
Number-Theoretic
Packages
I
F THERE BE ANY LINGERING
doubt in the mind of the reader as to the attractiveness
and utility of algorithmic number theory, a glance at the large number of web
sites that treat this topic should bring doubt to any such doubt at once, perhaps
even by overwriting the reader's cerebral registers. Just punch the search string
“number theory” into your favorite Internet search engine, and up pop thousands
of entries, a few of which have already been cited in this topic. Many of these web
sites contain links to available software packages or enable such packages to be
downloaded. Such offers encapsulate a large bandwidth of functions for large-
integer arithmetic, algebra, group theory, and number theory, demonstrating the
efforts of many able and enthusiastic developers.
An extensive list of sources for such software packages can be found on
the Number Theory Web Page, managed by Keith Matthews (University of
Queensland, Brisbane, Australia). The web site is located at
The site also contains links to universities and research institutes as well as
pointers to publications on relevant topics. In sum, this site is a veritable treasure
trove. The following overview represents a small selection from the list of available
software packages:
•
ARIBAS
is an interpreter that executes arithmetic and number-
theoretic functions for large integers. ARIBAS implements the
algorithms from [Fors] in Pascal. ARIBAS can be obtained as a
supplement to that topic, by anonymous ftp, from the directory
pub/forster/aribas
under
ftp.mathematik.uni-muenchen.de
or from
http://www.mathematik.uni-muenchen.de/
forster
.
•
CALC
, by Keith Matthews, is a calculation program for arbitrarily large
integers that takes commands on a command line, executes them, and
displays the results. CALC makes available about 60 number-theoretic
