Problem Set 1, due 1/15 in class

All variables a, b, n, etc are integers unless otherwise stated. Each part of a problem is
worth 5 points.

1. In this problem, we go over some basic application of unique factorization theorem

and the notion of gcd. For a ∈ Z and p a prime, let valp (a) be the number of times
that p appears in the factorization in a (e.g. valp (a) = 0 if p - a, and we artificially
put valp (0) = +∞).

(a) Prove that for a, b ∈ Z and prime p, we have valp (ab) = valp (a) + valp (b) and
valp (a + b) ≥ min(valp (a), valp (b)). You have to include the possibility a = 0 or
b = 0 and explain why things make reasonable sense in that case.
(b) Prove that for a, b ∈ Z, we have a|b if and only if for any prime p, valp (a) ≤ valp (b).

(Note: The notation of valp is an abbreviation for “valuation.” The use of this notion
in modern mathematics has, on one hand with p-adic numbers, and on the other hand
valp (a) is viewed in modern algebraic geometry as “counting how many times p is a
repeated root of a,” as in x = 1 is a double root of x3 − x2 − x + 1.)

2. Let us look at the period of the decimal expression of 1/7s .

(a) Let p be a prime number. Prove that if for some s, t ≥ 1 we have ps |at − 1, then
we also have ps+1 |apt − 1.
(Hint: Factorize at − 1 out of apt − 1 and inspect what is left.)
(b) Explain why from part (a) we can conclude that the decimal expression of 1/7s
has period t = 6 · 7s−1 , i.e. the decimal expression of 1/7s is of the form x =
0.d1 d2 d3 ...dt d1 d2 d3 ...dt d1 d2 d3 ...dt .... You don’t have to prove that it doesn’t have
a smaller period.
s−1
(Hint: Try to prove 7s |106·7 − 1 first, and use this to deduce the result.)
(c) (*) Prove that t = 6 · 7s−1 is indeed the minimum period, i.e. no smaller t serves
as the period in (b).

3. Let us suppose that in Euclid’s algorithm we always begin with two positive integers
which are distinct (a rather harmless assumption). In the Euclid’s algorithm, let us
reverse the notation in the class, and denote the last non-zero number by c0 , the second
last by c1 , etc. For example in gcd(24, 9) = gcd(6, 9) = gcd(6, 3) = gcd(0, 3) = 3, we
write c0 = 3, c1 = 6, c2 = 9, c3 = 24. We also see that if the largest number we began
with is cn (which is c3 = 24 in the example), then n is the number of divisions we
carry out in Euclid’s algorithm.

(a) The Fibonacci sequence is given by f0 = 0, f1 = 1, and fn = fn−1 + fn−2 for

n ≥ 2; see e.g. http://planetmath.org/listoffibonaccinumbers. Prove that
in Euclid’s algorithm we always have cn ≥ fn+2 .

1
 (Hint: Use induction on n)
(b) Prove that if in Euclid’s algorithm we begin with two integers 0 < x, y < 232 ,
then we need no more than 45 divisions to find out gcd(x, y).