I am awfully bad with number theory so if one can provide a quick solution of this, it will be very much appreciated!
Prove that if p is a prime with p≡1(mod4) then there is an integer m such that p divides m2+1
Answer
I will assume that you know Wilson's Theorem, which says that if p is prime, then (p−1)!≡−1(modp).
Let m=(p−12)2. We show that if p≡1(mod4), then m2≡−1(modp). This implies that p divides m2+1.
The idea is to pair 1 with p−1, 2 with p−2, 3 with p−3, and so on until at the end we pair p−12 with p+12. To follow the argument, you may want to work with a specific prime, such as p=13. So we pair 1 with 12, 2 with 11, 3 with 10, 4 with 9, 5 with 8, and finally 6 with 7.
Thus for any a from 1 to p−12, we pair a with p−a. Note that a(p−a)≡−a2(modp).
So the product of all the numbers from 1 to p−1 is congruent modulo p to the product
(−12)(−22)(−32)⋅(−(p−12)2).
This is congruent to
(−1)p−12m2.
But p−1 is divisible by 4, so p−12 is even, and therefore our product is congruent to m2.
But our product is congruent to (p−1)!, and therefore, by Wilson's Theorem, it is congruent to −1.
We conclude that m2≡−1(modp), which is what we wanted to show.
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