Tuesday, January 26, 2016

discrete mathematics - Prove if a (mod n) has a multiplicative inverse, then it's unique



Assume that an integer a has a multiplicative inverse modulo an integer n. Prove that this inverse is unique modulo n.



I was given a hint that proving this Lemma: nab  gcd(n,a)=1nb should help me in finding the answer.


Here are my steps in trying to solve the problem: \begin{align} \operatorname{gcd}\left(n,a\right) = 1 & \qquad \Longrightarrow \qquad sn + ta = 1 \qquad \Longrightarrow \qquad sn = 1 - ta \\ & \qquad \Longrightarrow \qquad 1 \equiv ta \mod n \qquad \Longrightarrow \qquad ta \equiv 1 \mod n . \end{align} I know that having the GCD of m and a equal to 1 proves there is a multiplicative inverse mod n, but I'm not sure on how to prove n \mid b with and how it helps prove the multiplicative inverse is unique.


Answer



For the first part note as (n,a) = 1, then there exist x,y \in \mathbb{Z}, s.t. nx + ay = 1. Multiply both sides by b and you will get nxb + (ab)y = b. The LHS is obviously divisible by n, so then the RHS must be too. Hence n \mid b.


This thing proves that the inverse exist. To note that it's unique modulo n assume that aa_1 \equiv 1 \pmod n and aa_2 \equiv 1 \pmod n. Then we have that there exist integer x,y s.t. aa_1 + nx = 1 and aa_2 + ny = 1. Subtracting the two equations we have that a(a_1 - a_2) = n(y-x) \implies a(a_1 - a_2) \equiv 0 \pmod n \implies a_1 \equiv a_2 \pmod n. Hence the multiplicative inverse is unique in \mathbb{Z}_n


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