Sai Nallani — 6 April 2024 Proof Set 10

Problem 1
Suppose a is relatively prime to n. The sequence of powers a1 , a2 , a3 , . . . mod n is
periodic with period r = ordn (a).

(a) Which of a1 , a2 , . . . , ar is congruent to a, the inverse of a mod n.

(b) What is the relationship between the following ordered lists of residues?

a1 , a2 , . . . , ar mod n and a1 , a2 , . . . , ar mod n

(Describe how to rearrange one list to become the other.)

(c) Prove a mod n has the same order as a mod n.

Solution.

(a) Since (ar−1 )(a) ≡ ar ≡ 1 mod n, we have ar−1 to be the inverse of a. Therefore,
ar−1 ≡ a mod n .

(b) By the same reasoning as above, we notice that

(ak )(aj ) ≡ ak+j ≡ ar ≡ 1 mod n =⇒ ak ≡ aj mod n

Therefore, the inverse of ak is equivalent to ar−k , where 1 ≤ k < r. We can arrange

the list through this bijection; for 1 ≤ k < r, we have ak ≡ ar−k , and for k = r
we have ar ≡ ar .

(c) Let s = ordn (a) and r = ordn (a). Let

as ≡ q mod n

for some 1 ≤ q ≤ n. Then multiplying by as we get

as as ≡ (aa)s ≡ qas mod n

1≡q mod n
Therefore as ≡ 1 mod n, implying r | s. By the same logic, let

ar ≡ k mod n

for some 1 ≤ k ≤ n. Then multiplying by ar yields

ar ar ≡ (aa)r ≡ kar mod n

1≡k mod n
So we have ar ≡ 1 mod n implying s | r. Therefore, r | s and s | r imply that
s = r, therefore, ordn a = ordn a .

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Sai Nallani — 6 April 2024 Proof Set 10

Problem 2
Find, with proof, the least positive residue of the product of all primitive roots
mod p, where p is a prime bigger than 3.

Solution. Let S = {g1 , g2 , . . . , gk } be primitive roots mod p for a prime p > 3. By

problem 1c, we know that ordn (gi ) = ordn (gi ) = p − 1. Therefore, the conjugate of
a primitive root is also a primitive root. Furthermore, the only elements that have a
self-inverse mod p are 1 and −1:
x2 ≡ 1 mod p =⇒ p | (x − 1)(x + 1) =⇒ x ≡ ±1 mod p
(Second step to third step is by Euclid’s lemma). Since −1 and 1 have an order less than
p − 1 for p > 3, we know that they are not primitive roots. Therefore, all gi have an
inverse gj such that gj ̸= gi . With this, we notice that
g1 g2 . . . gk ≡ g1 g1 . . . gk gk ≡ 1 mod p
Therefore, the least positive residue of the product of all primitive roots mod p where p
is a prime bigger than 3 is 1 .

Remark. To define the pairing a bit more rigorously, let Q = {q1 , . . . , qk/2 } ⊂ S where k
is the number of primitive roots and Q has the property such that a, b ∈ Q =⇒ ab = ̸ 1
mod p. Then since g ∈ S =⇒ g ∈ S, we have {q : q ∈ Q} ∪ Q = S and {q : q ∈ Q} ∩ Q = ∅
Qk Qk/2
implies i=1 gi = i=1 qi qi = 1.

Problem 3
Suppose g is a primitive root mod p, where p is an odd prime.

(a) Which of g 1 , g 2 , . . . , g p−1 is congruent to −1 mod p?

(b) Prove that if p ≡ 1 mod 4 then −g is also a primitive root mod p.

Solution.
(a) We notice that (g (p−1)/2 ) ≡ g p−1 ≡ 1 mod p. Therefore, g (p−1)/2 ≡ ±1 mod p. If
it is 1 mod p, it is a contradiction as ordp (g) ≤ (p − 1)/2 which is a contradiction
as g is a primitive root. Therefore, g (p−1)/2 ≡ −1 mod p .

(b) Let s = ordp (−g) for a prime p ≡ 1 mod 4. We see that (−g)p−1 ≡ (−1)p−1 g p−1 ≡
1 mod p since p − 1 is even; therefore, s ≤ p − 1. Assume 0 < s < p − 1. Then if s
is odd, we have
(−g)s ≡ −g s ≡ 1 mod p
−1 ≡ g s mod p
s = (p − 1)/2
by part (a). But this contradicts s being odd as s = (p − 1)/2 = (4k)/2 = 2k is
even. If s is even, then (−g)s ≡ g s ≡ 1 mod p implies p − 1 = ordp g ≤ s < p − 1,
which is also a contradiction. Therefore our assumption that 0 < s < p − 1 must be
wrong and s = p − 1 as it is the least positive integer such that (−g)s ≡ 1 mod p.
Therefore, ordp (−g) = p − 1 implies −g is also a primitive root mod p.
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Sai Nallani — 6 April 2024 Proof Set 10

Problem 4
Show that r is a primitive root modulo the odd prime p if and only if gcd(r, p) = 1
and for all prime divisors q of p − 1,
p−1
r q ̸≡ 1 mod p

Solution. Assume r is a primitive root, then by definition we have gcd(r, p) = 1. Assume

for some prime q | p − 1 we have
p−1
r q ≡1 mod p
p−1
This is a contradiction because then p − 1 = ordn (r) ≤ q . Therefore, such prime q
does not exist and we have p−1
r q ≡ 1 mod p
for all primes q | p − 1. Assume gcd(r, p) = 1 and for all prime divisors q of p − 1 we have
p−1
r q ̸≡ 1 mod p
Let s = ordp (r). By Fermat’s little theorem, we have rp−1 ≡ 1 mod p implying s | p − 1
and 0 < s ≤ p − 1. Assume s < p − 1. Since s | p − 1, let sk = p − 1 for some integer
k. Since s < p − 1, we have k ̸= 1. By the fundamental theorem of arithmetic, take a
prime q such that qc = k for some integer c. Now we have sk = sqc = p − 1. Dividing by
q yields us
p−1
sc =
q
p−1
Since sc is an integer, q | p − 1. Therefore we have r q ̸≡ 1 mod p. However, this is
a contradiction because rsc ≡ (rs )c ≡ 1 mod p and sc = p−1 q . Therefore our original
assumption that s < p − 1 must be incorrect, and we must have s = p − 1. Therefore, r
is a primitive root. ■

Problem 5
Suppose a and b are relatively prime to n, and ordn (a) and ordn (b) are relatively
prime to each other. Prove ordn (ab) = ordn (a) · ordn (b).

Let m = ordn (a), n = ordn (b), and c = ordn (ab). Then we have
(ab)c ≡ 1 mod n
c
Multiplying by b , we get
c
ac ≡ b mod n
m
Since ordn (ac ) = , we have that ordn (ac ) | m after rearranging. Furthermore,
gcd(m, c)
c
since ac ≡ b mod n we have:
c ordn (b) n
ordn (ac ) = ordn (b ) = =
gcd(ordn (b), c) gcd(n, c)
We have ordn (ac ) | n after rearranging as well. Therefore, since ordn (ac ) | m, n and
c
gcd(m, n) = 1, we have ordn (ac ) = ord(b ) = ord(bc ) = 1. If the order is 1, we must
have ac = bc = 1. Therefore, m, n | c. The smallest integer c such that both m
and n both divide c must be the lcm of both of them. Therefore, lcm(m, n) = c =
ordn (a) · ordn (b) = ordn (ab) because m and n are both relatively prime. ■