Sunday, 23 November 2014

elementary number theory - Proving property of congruence - help needed





Let c,d,m,kZ such that m2 and k is not zero. Let
f=gcd(k,m). If c \equiv d \pmod m and k divides
both c and d, then \frac{c}{k} \equiv \frac{d}{k} \left({\bmod} \frac{m}{f}\right)




My lecturer asked me to prove this statement, as an exercise.



To prove this, I started by considering the two cases:





  1. If suppose k and m are relatively prime, meaning that the f=1, then by the Congruence and Division Cancellation Law, we
    know that \frac{c}{k} \equiv \frac{d}{k} \pmod m. For
    this case, \frac{c}{k} \equiv \frac{d}{k} \big({\bmod} \frac{m}{f}\big) must be true since \frac{m}{f} = \frac {m}{1} = m

  2. Now, it remains to prove the other case, where k and m are not relatively prime. By the definition of divisibility, we know that
    c \equiv d \pmod m is equivalent of saying c = d+mj. We divide both sides by the common divisor k, gives us
    \frac{c}{k} = \frac{d}{k} + \frac{mj}{k}. Now, we consider f = \gcd(k,m). This implies that there must exists and integer i, such that k=lf, for some integer l. Thus, \frac{c}{k} = \frac{d}{k} + \frac{mj}{k} = \frac{d}{k} + \frac{mj}{lf}. (Is this true? -- since l does not divide m and the fact that it has to be integer, then l must divide j)




I have no idea where to continue. Am I on the right track? Any hints to finish the proof?


Answer



Since (k,m)=f, we get (k/f,m)=1 so there is x such that (k/f)\cdot x\equiv 1\pmod m holds. Especially, we get k\cdot(x/f)\equiv 1\pmod {m/f}.



From cx\equiv dx\pmod m we can derive c\cdot (x/f)\equiv d\cdot (x/f)\pmod {m/f} and you can check that c\cdot(x/f)\equiv c/k\pmod {m/f}.


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