Show that the sequence 11,22,33,⋯, considered (mod p) is periodic with least period p(p−1).
I came across this solution:
https://math.stackexchange.com/a/1894375/697936
The one thing that I am not unable to understand here is :
kkkp−1≡kk.
My claim: If (k,p)=1 then from Fermat's Little Theorem we have kp−1≡1(modp) then (k^{p-1})^p \equiv 1 \pmod{p}. And so this k^k k^{(p-1)p} \equiv k^k\pmod{p} holds.
But what happens if (k,p) \neq 1?
Can someone please explain this.
Thanks in advance.
Answer
If (k,p)\neq1 then (k,p)=p and hence k\equiv0\pmod{p}. So
k^kk^{p-1}\equiv0\pmod{p}\qquad\text{ and }\qquad k^k\equiv0\pmod{p}.
Another way to see that k^kk^{p-1}\equiv k^k\pmod{p} is to phrase Fermat's little theorem as
\forall k:\ k^p\equiv k\pmod{p}.
Then multiplying both sides by k^{k-1} yields the desired identity.
No comments:
Post a Comment