Friday, 21 April 2017

modular arithmetic - Number Theory Proof Need Logic Checked



I'm working on the following problem:




Show that if xp+yp=zp, then p | (x+yz)





So far my proof looks something like this:



Suppose p then x^p + y^p = z^p shouldn't have a solution (proof by contraposition). Taking the original equation \bmod p we have
x^p + y^p = z^p \quad \rightarrow \quad x + y \equiv z \space \bmod p \quad \rightarrow \quad x + y - z \equiv 0 \space \bmod p \quad \rightarrow \quad p \mid (x + y -z) (which we know is false). Hence the original equation holds.



So I don't think my logic is making sense, and am need of assistance if it's wrong. Any tips would be appreciated.


Answer



Hint: Fermat's little theorem states that x^p \equiv x \pmod p.




I'm not exactly certain how you want us to respond. It appears that you have the idea. The way that I would express it is as follows:



x + y \equiv x^p + y^p = z^p \equiv z \pmod{p}, hence p \mid x+y -z.






So, most of you know FLT as "If x \neq 0 \pmod{p}, then x^{p-1} \equiv 1 \pmod{p}. The first line is a direct corollary of this result.



If x \equiv 0 \pmod{p}, then x \equiv 0 \equiv x^p \pmod{p}. Otheriwse, x^p \equiv x^{p-1} x \equiv x \pmod{p}.
Hence, in all cases, x^p \equiv p \pmod{p}.



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