Thursday, 16 August 2018

elementary number theory - Linear congruence proof, show congruence has exactly two incongruent solutions



Let p be an odd prime and k a positive integer. Show that the congruence x2 1 modpk has exactly two incongruence solutions, namely, x±1modpk.



I'm not sure what to do after this:
x2 1 modpk => pk | x21=(x-1)(x+2)



Answer



As you have already observed, pk(x1)(x+1). In particular p(x1)(x+1), so either px1 or px+1. In any case, we cannot have both since p. This implies that p^k\mid x-1 or p^k \mid x+1. Why?



This works in general: x^2=n\mod p^k has at most two incongruent solutions.


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