Cryptography Reference
In-Depth Information
A.2 Basic Arithmetic
Basic Arithmetic
A natural number n is one of the so-called counting numbers consisting of
the set
(where the ellipsis ... means ad infinitum or
“up to infinity”). The natural numbers, and their negatives, together with 0
is called the set of integers , namely,
{
1 , 2 , 3 ,...
}
, denoted by
N
{
...,
3 ,
2 ,
1 , 0 , 1 , 2 , 3 ,...
}
, denoted by
Z
(where the ellipsis on the left ... , denotes from negative infinity and on the
right, ad infinitum ).
Definition A.8 ( Primes)
If p
( p> 1) and p has no positive divisors, other than itself and 1 ,
then p is a prime number, or simply a prime .If n
N
N
,n> 1 , and n is not a
prime, then n is composite .
Once we have primes as the building bricks of the integers, we have a means
of representing any given integer.
Definition A.9 ( Canonical Prime Factorization)
If n
,n > 1 , then the factorization n = i =1 p a i , where a i N
N
, and
2
p 1 <p 2 <...<p N , is the canonical prime factorization of n .
Moreover, those representations are essentially unique as the following fun-
damental fact shows.
Theorem A.1 ( The Fundamental Theorem of Arithmetic) Let n
,n > 1 . f n = i =1 p i = i =1 q i , where the p i and q i are primes, then
r = s , and the factors are the same if their order is ignored.
N
Proof . See [167, Theorem 1.4.2, page 44].
= 0, then a/b is a rational number . The set of all rational
numbers is denoted by
If a,b
Z
with b
Q
. Rational numbers have period ic decimal expansions,
such as 1 / 3=0 . 3333 ... , but those numbers, such as 2, do not have any re-
peated pattern in their decimal expansions. These numbers are called irrational
numbers . The collection af all the rational and irrational numbers is called the
set of real numbers , denoted by
R
. The collection of only the positive reals is
+ . Also, if x
, then x n = x
denoted by
R
R
and n
N
·
x
···
x multiplied n
times is called an exponentiation of x .
, then to say that b divides a , denoted by b a ,
means that a = bx for a unique x
Divisibility .If a,b
Z
, denoted by x = a/b . Note that the
existence and uniqueness of x implies that b cannot be 0. We also say that a is
divisible by b .If b does not divide a , then we write b
Z
a , and say that a is not
divisible by b . Note that x is not unique for a = b = 0. We say that division by
zero is undefined .
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