Thursday, 31 August 2017

elementary number theory - Find all integer solutions to linear congruences



Find all integer solutions to linear congruences:



\begin{align} &(a) &3x &\equiv 24 \pmod{6},\\ &(b) &10x &\equiv 18 \pmod{25},\\ \end{align}



What I have so far:



(a) \gcd(3,6)=3
And we know 3|24 so there are 3 solutions. By inspection we know that x=8 is a solution.



One, question I have is, even though x=8 is a solution, I can also see that x=2 is a solution, and among others. Does it matter which I choose, or do I randomly choose a solution I see? From here I'm a tad confused. I'm missing something very simple.



(b) \gcd (10,25)=5




And 5 \nmid 18 so there are no solutions. Right?


Answer



Using this, (10,25)=5 must divide 9 to admit any solution, which is not, so there is no solution.



3x\equiv 24\pmod 6\implies 2\mid x i.e., any even value(not only 8) of x will satisfy the 1st congruence.



So, the system of the linear congruence has no solution as the 2nd congruence is not solvable.







Alternatively, for the 2nd congruence, 10x-18=25y for some integer y,



So,5(2x-5y)=18, \frac{18}5=2x-5y which is an integer, hence contradiction.


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