Sunday, 7 December 2014

elementary number theory - Proof verification: Proving that gcd(p,q,r)>1

If gcd(p,q,r) = 1
Prove that there is an integer A such that
gcd(p, q+Ar) = 1



Is the following proof good (correct)?




If we assume for the sake of contradiction that gcd(p,q+Ar) >1 AZ...(I), then also (by symmetry) gcd(q,r+Ap) >1 AZ...(II) and gcd(r,p+Cq) >1 AZ...(III). Now since gcd(p,q,r) =gcd(gcd(p,q),r), it will suffice to show that gcd(gcd(p,q),r) >1. For the sake of brevity let g =gcd(p,q), hence p =gp and q =gq for some relatively prime integers p,q. We will assume to the contrary that gcd(g,r) =1, from which (Bezout) there will exist x,yZ such that gx+ry =1, or ry =1gx...(α). Thus, the inequality (I) becomes gcd(gp,gq+Ar) >1 AZ. Setting A =Ay for some arbitrary integer A, we get gcd(gp,gq+Ary) >1 AZ, or equivalently (by (α)) gcd(gp,gq+AAgx) >1 AZ. So setting A =p yields (Euclidean Algorithm) gcd(gp,gq+p) >1 AZ. Now, if gcd(g,p) =1 then the proof is complete, so it will suffice to prove this. Notice that the inequality (II) is equivalent to gcd(gq,r+q) >1. (The proof is identical to what has been done previously and the details are omitted.) There are two cases to distinguish. If gcd(g,q) =1, then by symmetry it will also be possible for gcd(g,p) =1 to hold (in some other circumstances), and the proof is complete. Otherwise, if gcd(g,q) >1 then it forces gcd(g,p) =1 to hold, and the proof is complete. Thus, in both cases the proof is complete. Q.E.D.



I am mainly unsure about the symmetry statements. The first one is explicitly mentioned in brackets ("by symmetry"); the second one arises later on in the proof. So it will be helpful to read the proof if you can, I will really appreciate it.

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