Pell Numbers Whose Euler Function Is a Pell Number

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Pell Numbers Whose Euler Function Is a Pell Number PUBLICATIONS DE L’INSTITUT MATHÉMATIQUE Nouvelle série, tome 101(115) (2017), 231–245 https://doi.org/10.2298/PIM1715231F PELL NUMBERS WHOSE EULER FUNCTION IS A PELL NUMBER Bernadette Faye and Florian Luca Abstract. We show that the only Pell numbers whose Euler function is also a Pell number are 1 and 2. 1. Introduction Let φ(n) be the Euler function of the positive integer n. Recall that if n has the prime factorization n = pa1 pak 1 · · · k with distinct primes p1,...,pk and positive integers a1,...,ak, then φ(n)= pa1−1(p 1) pak−1(p 1). 1 1 − · · · k k − There are many papers in the literature dealing with diophantine equations involv- ing the Euler function in members of a binary recurrent sequence. For example, in [11], it is shown that 1, 2, and 3 are the only Fibonacci numbers whose Euler function is also a Fibonacci number, while in [4] it is shown that the Diophantine equation φ(5n 1)=5m 1 has no positive integer solutions (m,n). Furthermore, the divisibility− relation φ(−n) n 1 when n is a Fibonacci number, or a Lucas num- ber, or a Cullen number (that| is,− a number of the form n2n + 1 for some positive integer n), or a rep-digit (gm 1)/(g 1) in some integer base g [2, 1000] have been investigated in [10, 5, 7,− 3], respectively.− ∈ Here we look for a similar equation with members of the Pell sequence. The Pell sequence (Pn)n>0 is given by P0 = 0, P1 = 1 and Pn+1 = 2Pn + Pn−1 for all n > 0. Its first terms are 0, 1, 2, 5, 12, 29, 70, 169, 408, 985, 2378, 5741, 13860, 33461, 80782, 195025, 470832,... We have the following result. 2010 Mathematics Subject Classification: 11B39. Key words and phrases: Pell numbers; Euler function. B. Faye was supported by a grant from OWSD and SIDA.. F. Luca was supported by an NRF A-rated researcher grant. Communicated by Žarko Mijajlović. 231 232 FAYE AND LUCA Theorem 1.1. The only solutions in positive integers (n,m) of the equation (1.1) φ(Pn)= Pm are (n,m)=(1, 1), (2, 1). For the proof, we begin by following the method from [11], but we add to it some ingredients from [10]. 2. Preliminary results Let (α, β)=(1+ √2, 1 √2) be the roots of the characteristic equation x2 − − 2x 1 = 0 of the Pell sequence P > . The Binet formula for P is − { n}n 0 n αn βn P = − for all n > 0. n α β − This implies easily that the inequalities n−2 n−1 (2.1) α 6 Pn 6 α hold for all positive integers n. We let Q > be the companion Lucas sequence of the Pell sequence given { n}n 0 by Q0 = 2, Q1 = 2 and Qn+2 =2Qn+1 + Qn for all n > 0. Its first few terms are 2, 2, 6, 14, 34, 82, 198, 478, 1154, 2786, 6726, 16238, 39202, 94642, 228486, 551614,... The Binet formula for Qn is n n (2.2) Qn = α + β for all n > 0. We use the well-known result. Lemma . 2 2 n 2.1 The relations (i) P2n = PnQn and (ii) Qn 8Pn = 4( 1) hold for all n > 0. − − For a prime p and a nonzero integer m let νp(m) be the exponent with which p appears in the prime factorization of m. The following result is well known and easy to prove. Lemma 2.2. The relations (i) ν2(Qn)=1 and (ii) ν2(Pn)= ν2(n) hold for all positive integers n. The following divisibility relations among the Pell numbers are well known. Lemma 2.3. Let m and n be positive integers. We have: (i) If m n, then P P , (ii) gcd(P , P )= P . | m | n m n gcd(m,n) For each positive integer n, let z(n) be the smallest positive integer k such that n Pk. It is known that this exists and n Pm if and only if z(n) m. This number is| referred to as the order of appearance of|n in the Pell sequence.| Clearly, z(2) = 2. 2 Further, putting for an odd prime p, ep = p , where the above notation stands for the Legendre symbol of 2 with respect to p, we have that z(p) p e . A prime | − p factor p of Pn such that z(p) = n is called primitive for Pn. It is known that Pn ep has a primitive divisor for all n > 2 (see [2] or [1]). Write Pz(p) = p mp, where PELL NUMBERS WHOSE EULER FUNCTION IS A PELL NUMBER 233 k mp is coprime to p. It is known that if p Pn for some k>ep, then pz(p) n. In particular, | | (2.3) νp(Pn) 6 ep whenever p ∤ n. We need a bound on ep. We have the following result. Lemma 2.4. The inequality (p + 1)log α (2.4) e 6 . p 2log p holds for all primes p. Proof. Since e2 = 1, the inequality holds for the prime 2. Assume that p is odd. Then z(p) p + ε for some ε 1 . Furthermore, by Lemmas 2.1 and 2.3, | ∈ {± } we have pep P P = P Q . By Lemma 2.1, it follows easily that | z(p) | p+ε (p+ε)/2 (p+ε)/2 p cannot divide both Pn and Qn for n = (p + ε)/2 since otherwise p will also divide Q2 8P 2 = 4, n − n ± ep a contradiction since p is odd. Hence, p divides one of P(p+ε)/2 or Q(p+ε)/2. If ep ep (p+1)/2 p divides P(p+ε)/2, we have, by (2.1), that p 6 P(p+ε)/2 6 P(p+1)/2 < α , which leads to the desired inequality (2.4) upon taking logarithms of both sides. In ep case p divides Q(p+ε)/2, we use the fact that Q(p+ε)/2 is even by Lemma 2.2 (i). ep Hence, p divides Q(p+ε)/2/2, therefore, by formula (2.2), we have (p+1)/2 Q(p+ε)/2 Q(p+1)/2 α +1 pep 6 6 < < α(p+1)/2, 2 2 2 which leads again to the desired conclusion by taking logarithms of both sides. For a positive real number x we use log x for the natural logarithm of x. We need some inequalities from the prime number theory. For a positive integer n we write ω(n) for the number of distinct prime factors of n. The following inequalities (i), (ii) and (iii) are inequalities (3.13), (3.29) and (3.41) in [15], while (iv) is Théoréme 13 from [6]. Lemma 2.5. Let p <p < be the sequence of all prime numbers. We have: 1 2 · · · (i) The inequality pn <n(log n + loglog n) holds for all n > 6. (ii) The inequality 1 1 1+ < 1.79 log x 1+ p 1 2(log x)2 6 pYx − holds for all x > 286. (iii) The inequality n φ(n) > 1.79loglog n +2.5/ log log n holds for all n > 3. 234 FAYE AND LUCA (iv) The inequality log n ω(n) < log log n 1.1714 − holds for all n > 26. For a positive integer n, we put n = p : z(p) = n . We need the following result. P { } Lemma 2.6. Put S := 1 . For n> 2, we have n p∈Pn p−1 P 2log n 4+4loglog n (2.5) S < min , . n n φ(n) n o Proof. Since n > 2, it follows that every prime factor p n is odd and satisfies the congruence p 1 (mod n). Further, putting ℓ :=∈ # P , we have ≡± n Pn (n 1)ℓn 6 p 6 P < αn−1 − n pY∈Pn (by inequality (2.1)), giving (n 1)log α (2.6) ℓ 6 − . n log(n 1) − Thus, the inequality n log α (2.7) ℓ < n log n holds for all n > 3, since it follows from (2.6) for n > 4 via the fact that the function x x/ log x is increasing for x > 3, while for n = 3 it can be checked directly. To prove7→ the first bound, we use (2.7) to deduce that 1 1 2 1 1 1 (2.8) S 6 + 6 + n nℓ 2 nℓ n ℓ m 2 − m 6 6 6 6 > 1 Xℓ ℓn − 1 Xℓ ℓn mXn − 2 ℓn dt 1 1 2 n 6 +1 + + 6 log ℓn +1+ n 1 t n 2 n 1 n n 2 Z − − − 2 (log α)e2+2/(n−2) 6 log n . n log n Since the inequality log n > (log α)e2+2/(n−2) holds for all n > 800, (2.8) implies 2 > that Sn < n log n for n 800. The remaining range for n can be checked on an individual basis. For the second bound on Sn, we follow the argument from [10] and split the primes in in three groups: Pn (i) p< 3n; (ii) p (3n,n2); (iii) p>n2; ∈ We have 1 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 < 10.1 , n even, 6 n−2 n 2n−2 2n 3n−2 3n (2.9) T1 = 1 1 7.1 p 1 ( + < , n odd, p∈Pn − 2n−2 2n 3n p<X3n PELL NUMBERS WHOSE EULER FUNCTION IS A PELL NUMBER 235 where the last inequalities above hold for all n > 84.
Recommended publications
  • ON SOME GAUSSIAN PELL and PELL-LUCAS NUMBERS Abstract
    Ordu Üniv. Bil. Tek. Derg., Cilt:6, Sayı:1, 2016,8-18/Ordu Univ. J. Sci. Tech., Vol:6, No:1,2016,8-18 ON SOME GAUSSIAN PELL AND PELL-LUCAS NUMBERS Serpil Halıcı*1 Sinan Öz2 1Pamukkale Uni., Science and Arts Faculty,Dept. of Math., KınıklıCampus, Denizli, Turkey 2Pamukkale Uni., Science and Arts Faculty,Dept. of Math., Denizli, Turkey Abstract In this study, we consider firstly the generalized Gaussian Fibonacci and Lucas sequences. Then we define the Gaussian Pell and Gaussian Pell-Lucas sequences. We give the generating functions and Binet formulas of Gaussian Pell and Gaussian Pell- Lucas sequences. Moreover, we obtain some important identities involving the Gaussian Pell and Pell-Lucas numbers. Keywords. Recurrence Relation, Fibonacci numbers, Gaussian Pell and Pell-Lucas numbers. Özet Bu çalışmada, önce genelleştirilmiş Gaussian Fibonacci ve Lucas dizilerini dikkate aldık. Sonra, Gaussian Pell ve Gaussian Pell-Lucas dizilerini tanımladık. Gaussian Pell ve Gaussian Pell-Lucas dizilerinin Binet formüllerini ve üreteç fonksiyonlarını verdik. Üstelik, Gaussian Pell ve Gaussian Pell-Lucas sayılarını içeren bazı önemli özdeşlikler elde ettik. AMS Classification. 11B37, 11B39.1 * [email protected], 8 S. Halıcı, S. Öz 1. INTRODUCTION From (Horadam 1961; Horadam 1963) it is well known Generalized Fibonacci sequence {푈푛}, 푈푛+1 = 푝푈푛 + 푞푈푛−1 , 푈0 = 0 푎푛푑 푈1 = 1, and generalized Lucas sequence {푉푛} are defined by 푉푛+1 = 푝푉푛 + 푞푉푛−1 , 푉0 = 2 푎푛푑 푉1 = 푝, where 푝 and 푞 are nonzero real numbers and 푛 ≥ 1. For 푝 = 푞 = 1, we have classical Fibonacci and Lucas sequences. For 푝 = 2, 푞 = 1, we have Pell and Pell- Lucas sequences.
    [Show full text]
  • On Cullen Numbers Which Are Both Riesel and Sierpiński Numbers
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Elsevier - Publisher Connector Journal of Number Theory 132 (2012) 2836–2841 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Journal of Number Theory www.elsevier.com/locate/jnt On Cullen numbers which are both Riesel and Sierpinski´ numbers ∗ Pedro Berrizbeitia a, J.G. Fernandes a, ,MarcosJ.Gonzáleza,FlorianLucab, V. Janitzio Mejía Huguet c a Departamento de Matemáticas, Universidad Simón Bolívar, Caracas 1080-A, Venezuela b Instituto de Matemáticas, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, C.P. 58089, Morelia, Michoacán, Mexico c Departamento de Ciencias Básicas, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Azcapotzalco, Av. San Pablo #180, Col. Reynosa Tamaulipas, Azcapotzalco, 02200, México DF, Mexico article info abstract Article history: We describe an algorithm to determine whether or not a given Received 27 January 2012 system of congruences is satisfied by Cullen numbers. We use Revised 21 May 2012 this algorithm to prove that there are infinitely many Cullen Accepted 21 May 2012 numbers which are both Riesel and Sierpinski.´ (Such numbers Available online 3 August 2012 should be discarded if you are searching prime numbers with Communicated by David Goss Proth’s theorem.) Keywords: © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Cullen numbers Covering congruences Sierpinski´ numbers Riesel numbers 1. Introduction n The numbers Cn = n2 + 1 where introduced, in 1905, by the Reverend J. Cullen [1] as a particular n n case of the Proth family k2 + 1, where k = n. The analogous numbers Wn = n2 − 1 where intro- duced as far as we know, in 1917, by Cunningham and Woodall [3].
    [Show full text]
  • New Formulas for Semi-Primes. Testing, Counting and Identification
    New Formulas for Semi-Primes. Testing, Counting and Identification of the nth and next Semi-Primes Issam Kaddouraa, Samih Abdul-Nabib, Khadija Al-Akhrassa aDepartment of Mathematics, school of arts and sciences bDepartment of computers and communications engineering, Lebanese International University, Beirut, Lebanon Abstract In this paper we give a new semiprimality test and we construct a new formula for π(2)(N), the function that counts the number of semiprimes not exceeding a given number N. We also present new formulas to identify the nth semiprime and the next semiprime to a given number. The new formulas are based on the knowledge of the primes less than or equal to the cube roots 3 of N : P , P ....P 3 √N. 1 2 π( √N) ≤ Keywords: prime, semiprime, nth semiprime, next semiprime 1. Introduction Securing data remains a concern for every individual and every organiza- tion on the globe. In telecommunication, cryptography is one of the studies that permits the secure transfer of information [1] over the Internet. Prime numbers have special properties that make them of fundamental importance in cryptography. The core of the Internet security is based on protocols, such arXiv:1608.05405v1 [math.NT] 17 Aug 2016 as SSL and TSL [2] released in 1994 and persist as the basis for securing dif- ferent aspects of today’s Internet [3]. The Rivest-Shamir-Adleman encryption method [4], released in 1978, uses asymmetric keys for exchanging data. A secret key Sk and a public key Pk are generated by the recipient with the following property: A message enciphered Email addresses: [email protected] (Issam Kaddoura), [email protected] (Samih Abdul-Nabi) 1 by Pk can only be deciphered by Sk and vice versa.
    [Show full text]
  • The Pseudoprimes to 25 • 109
    MATHEMATICS OF COMPUTATION, VOLUME 35, NUMBER 151 JULY 1980, PAGES 1003-1026 The Pseudoprimes to 25 • 109 By Carl Pomerance, J. L. Selfridge and Samuel S. Wagstaff, Jr. Abstract. The odd composite n < 25 • 10 such that 2n_1 = 1 (mod n) have been determined and their distribution tabulated. We investigate the properties of three special types of pseudoprimes: Euler pseudoprimes, strong pseudoprimes, and Car- michael numbers. The theoretical upper bound and the heuristic lower bound due to Erdös for the counting function of the Carmichael numbers are both sharpened. Several new quick tests for primality are proposed, including some which combine pseudoprimes with Lucas sequences. 1. Introduction. According to Fermat's "Little Theorem", if p is prime and (a, p) = 1, then ap~1 = 1 (mod p). This theorem provides a "test" for primality which is very often correct: Given a large odd integer p, choose some a satisfying 1 <a <p - 1 and compute ap~1 (mod p). If ap~1 pi (mod p), then p is certainly composite. If ap~l = 1 (mod p), then p is probably prime. Odd composite numbers n for which (1) a"_1 = l (mod«) are called pseudoprimes to base a (psp(a)). (For simplicity, a can be any positive in- teger in this definition. We could let a be negative with little additional work. In the last 15 years, some authors have used pseudoprime (base a) to mean any number n > 1 satisfying (1), whether composite or prime.) It is well known that for each base a, there are infinitely many pseudoprimes to base a.
    [Show full text]
  • Primes and Primality Testing
    Primes and Primality Testing A Technological/Historical Perspective Jennifer Ellis Department of Mathematics and Computer Science What is a prime number? A number p greater than one is prime if and only if the only divisors of p are 1 and p. Examples: 2, 3, 5, and 7 A few larger examples: 71887 524287 65537 2127 1 Primality Testing: Origins Eratosthenes: Developed “sieve” method 276-194 B.C. Nicknamed Beta – “second place” in many different academic disciplines Also made contributions to www-history.mcs.st- geometry, approximation of andrews.ac.uk/PictDisplay/Eratosthenes.html the Earth’s circumference Sieve of Eratosthenes 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 Sieve of Eratosthenes We only need to “sieve” the multiples of numbers less than 10. Why? (10)(10)=100 (p)(q)<=100 Consider pq where p>10. Then for pq <=100, q must be less than 10. By sieving all the multiples of numbers less than 10 (here, multiples of q), we have removed all composite numbers less than 100.
    [Show full text]
  • Appendix a Tables of Fermat Numbers and Their Prime Factors
    Appendix A Tables of Fermat Numbers and Their Prime Factors The problem of distinguishing prime numbers from composite numbers and of resolving the latter into their prime factors is known to be one of the most important and useful in arithmetic. Carl Friedrich Gauss Disquisitiones arithmeticae, Sec. 329 Fermat Numbers Fo =3, FI =5, F2 =17, F3 =257, F4 =65537, F5 =4294967297, F6 =18446744073709551617, F7 =340282366920938463463374607431768211457, Fs =115792089237316195423570985008687907853 269984665640564039457584007913129639937, Fg =134078079299425970995740249982058461274 793658205923933777235614437217640300735 469768018742981669034276900318581864860 50853753882811946569946433649006084097, FlO =179769313486231590772930519078902473361 797697894230657273430081157732675805500 963132708477322407536021120113879871393 357658789768814416622492847430639474124 377767893424865485276302219601246094119 453082952085005768838150682342462881473 913110540827237163350510684586298239947 245938479716304835356329624224137217. The only known Fermat primes are Fo, ... , F4 • 208 17 lectures on Fermat numbers Completely Factored Composite Fermat Numbers m prime factor year discoverer 5 641 1732 Euler 5 6700417 1732 Euler 6 274177 1855 Clausen 6 67280421310721* 1855 Clausen 7 59649589127497217 1970 Morrison, Brillhart 7 5704689200685129054721 1970 Morrison, Brillhart 8 1238926361552897 1980 Brent, Pollard 8 p**62 1980 Brent, Pollard 9 2424833 1903 Western 9 P49 1990 Lenstra, Lenstra, Jr., Manasse, Pollard 9 p***99 1990 Lenstra, Lenstra, Jr., Manasse, Pollard
    [Show full text]
  • Adopting Number Sequences for Shielding Information
    Manish Bansal et al, International Journal of Computer Science and Mobile Computing, Vol.3 Issue.11, November- 2014, pg. 660-667 Available Online at www.ijcsmc.com International Journal of Computer Science and Mobile Computing A Monthly Journal of Computer Science and Information Technology ISSN 2320–088X IJCSMC, Vol. 3, Issue. 11, November 2014, pg.660 – 667 RESEARCH ARTICLE Adopting Number Sequences for Shielding Information Mrs. Sandhya Maitra, Mr. Manish Bansal, Ms. Preety Gupta Associate Professor - Department of Computer Applications and Institute of Information Technology and Management, India Student - Department of Computer Applications and Institute of Information Technology and Management, India Student - Department of Computer Applications and Institute of Information Technology and Management, India [email protected] , [email protected] , [email protected] Abstract:-The advancement of technology and global communication networks puts up the question of safety of conveyed data and saved data over these media. Cryptography is the most efficient and feasible mode to transfer security services and also Cryptography is becoming effective tool in numerous applications for information security. This paper studies the shielding of information with the help of cryptographic function and number sequences. The efficiency of the given method is examined, which assures upgraded cryptographic services in physical signal and it is also agile and clear for realization. 1. Introduction Cryptography is the branch of information security. The basic goal of cryptography is to make communication secure in the presence of third party (intruder). Encryption is the mechanism of transforming information into unreadable (cipher) form. This is accomplished for data integrity, forward secrecy, authentication and mainly for data confidentiality.
    [Show full text]
  • On the Connections Between Pell Numbers and Fibonacci P-Numbers
    Notes on Number Theory and Discrete Mathematics Print ISSN 1310–5132, Online ISSN 2367–8275 Vol. 27, 2021, No. 1, 148–160 DOI: 10.7546/nntdm.2021.27.1.148-160 On the connections between Pell numbers and Fibonacci p-numbers Anthony G. Shannon1, Ozg¨ ur¨ Erdag˘2 and Om¨ ur¨ Deveci3 1 Warrane College, University of New South Wales Kensington, Australia e-mail: [email protected] 2 Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science and Letters Kafkas University 36100, Turkey e-mail: [email protected] 3 Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science and Letters Kafkas University 36100, Turkey e-mail: [email protected] Received: 24 April 2020 Revised: 4 January 2021 Accepted: 7 January 2021 Abstract: In this paper, we define the Fibonacci–Pell p-sequence and then we discuss the connection of the Fibonacci–Pell p-sequence with the Pell and Fibonacci p-sequences. Also, we provide a new Binet formula and a new combinatorial representation of the Fibonacci–Pell p-numbers by the aid of the n-th power of the generating matrix of the Fibonacci–Pell p-sequence. Furthermore, we derive relationships between the Fibonacci–Pell p-numbers and their permanent, determinant and sums of certain matrices. Keywords: Pell sequence, Fibonacci p-sequence, Matrix, Representation. 2010 Mathematics Subject Classification: 11K31, 11C20, 15A15. 1 Introduction The well-known Pell sequence fPng is defined by the following recurrence relation: Pn+2 = 2Pn+1 + Pn for n ≥ 0 in which P0 = 0 and P1 = 1. 148 There are many important generalizations of the Fibonacci sequence. The Fibonacci p-sequence [22, 23] is one of them: Fp (n) = Fp (n − 1) + Fp (n − p − 1) for p = 1; 2; 3;::: and n > p in which Fp (0) = 0, Fp (1) = ··· = Fp (p) = 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Properties of Pell Numbers Modulo Prime Fermat Numbers 1 General
    Properties of Pell numbers modulo prime Fermat numbers Tony Reix ([email protected]) 2005, ??th of February The Pell numbers are generated by the Lucas Sequence: 2 Xn = P Xn−1 QXn−2 with (P, Q)=(2, 1) and D = P 4Q = 8. There are: − − − The Pell Sequence: Un = 2Un−1 + Un−2 with (U0, U1)=(0, 1), and ◦ The Companion Pell Sequence: V = 2V + V with (V , V )=(2, 2). ◦ n n−1 n−2 0 1 The properties of Lucas Sequences (named from Edouard´ Lucas) are studied since hundreds of years. Paulo Ribenboim and H.C. Williams provided the properties of Lucas Sequences in their 2 famous books: ”The Little Book of Bigger Primes” (PR) and ”Edouard´ Lucas and Primality Testing” (HCW). The goal of this paper is to gather all known properties of Pell numbers in order to try proving a faster Primality test of Fermat numbers. Though these properties are detailed in the Ribenboim’s and Williams’ books, the special values of (P, Q) lead to new properties. Properties from Ribenboim’s book are noted: (PR). Properties from Williams’ book are noted: (HCW). Properties built by myself are noted: (TR). n -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Un 5 -2 1 0 1 2 5 12 29 70 169 408 985 2378 Vn -14 6 -2 2 2 6 14 34 82 198 478 1154 2786 6726 Table 1: First Pell numbers 1 General properties of Pell numbers 1.1 The Little Book of Bigger Primes The polynomial X2 2X 1 has discriminant D = 8 and roots: − − α = 1 √2 β ± 1 So: α + β = 2 αβ = 1 − α β = 2√2 − and we define the sequences of numbers: αn βn U = − and V = αn + βn for n 0.
    [Show full text]
  • The Distribution of Pseudoprimes
    The Distribution of Pseudoprimes Matt Green September, 2002 The RSA crypto-system relies on the availability of very large prime num- bers. Tests for finding these large primes can be categorized as deterministic and probabilistic. Deterministic tests, such as the Sieve of Erastothenes, of- fer a 100 percent assurance that the number tested and passed as prime is actually prime. Despite their refusal to err, deterministic tests are generally not used to find large primes because they are very slow (with the exception of a recently discovered polynomial time algorithm). Probabilistic tests offer a much quicker way to find large primes with only a negligibal amount of error. I have studied a simple, and comparatively to other probabilistic tests, error prone test based on Fermat’s little theorem. Fermat’s little theorem states that if b is a natural number and n a prime then bn−1 ≡ 1 (mod n). To test a number n for primality we pick any natural number less than n and greater than 1 and first see if it is relatively prime to n. If it is, then we use this number as a base b and see if Fermat’s little theorem holds for n and b. If the theorem doesn’t hold, then we know that n is not prime. If the theorem does hold then we can accept n as prime right now, leaving a large chance that we have made an error, or we can test again with a different base. Chances improve that n is prime with every base that passes but for really big numbers it is cumbersome to test all possible bases.
    [Show full text]
  • Cullen Numbers with the Lehmer Property
    PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN MATHEMATICAL SOCIETY Volume 00, Number 0, Pages 000–000 S 0002-9939(XX)0000-0 CULLEN NUMBERS WITH THE LEHMER PROPERTY JOSE´ MAR´IA GRAU RIBAS AND FLORIAN LUCA Abstract. Here, we show that there is no positive integer n such that n the nth Cullen number Cn = n2 + 1 has the property that it is com- posite but φ(Cn) | Cn − 1. 1. Introduction n A Cullen number is a number of the form Cn = n2 + 1 for some n ≥ 1. They attracted attention of researchers since it seems that it is hard to find primes of this form. Indeed, Hooley [8] showed that for most n the number Cn is composite. For more about testing Cn for primality, see [3] and [6]. For an integer a > 1, a pseudoprime to base a is a compositive positive integer m such that am ≡ a (mod m). Pseudoprime Cullen numbers have also been studied. For example, in [12] it is shown that for most n, Cn is not a base a-pseudoprime. Some computer searchers up to several millions did not turn up any pseudo-prime Cn to any base. Thus, it would seem that Cullen numbers which are pseudoprimes are very scarce. A Carmichael number is a positive integer m which is a base a pseudoprime for any a. A composite integer m is called a Lehmer number if φ(m) | m − 1, where φ(m) is the Euler function of m. Lehmer numbers are Carmichael numbers; hence, pseudoprimes in every base. No Lehmer number is known, although it is known that there are no Lehmer numbers in certain sequences, such as the Fibonacci sequence (see [9]), or the sequence of repunits in base g for any g ∈ [2, 1000] (see [4]).
    [Show full text]
  • PELL FACTORIANGULAR NUMBERS Florian Luca, Japhet Odjoumani
    PUBLICATIONS DE L’INSTITUT MATHÉMATIQUE Nouvelle série, tome 105(119) (2019), 93–100 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2298/PIM1919093L PELL FACTORIANGULAR NUMBERS Florian Luca, Japhet Odjoumani, and Alain Togbé Abstract. We show that the only Pell numbers which are factoriangular are 2, 5 and 12. 1. Introduction Recall that the Pell numbers Pm m> are given by { } 1 αm βm P = − , for all m > 1, m α β − where α =1+ √2 and β =1 √2. The first few Pell numbers are − 1, 2, 5, 12, 29, 70, 169, 408, 985, 2378, 5741, 13860, 33461, 80782, 195025,... Castillo [3], dubbed a number of the form Ftn = n!+ n(n + 1)/2 for n > 1 a factoriangular number. The first few factoriangular numbers are 2, 5, 12, 34, 135, 741, 5068, 40356, 362925,... Luca and Gómez-Ruiz [8], proved that the only Fibonacci factoriangular numbers are 2, 5 and 34. This settled a conjecture of Castillo from [3]. In this paper, we prove the following related result. Theorem 1.1. The only Pell numbers which are factoriangular are 2, 5 and 12. Our method is similar to the one from [8]. Assuming Pm = Ftn for positive integers m and n, we use a linear forms in p-adic logarithms to find some bounds on m and n. The resulting bounds are large so we run a calculation to reduce the bounds. This computation is highly nontrivial and relates on reducing the diophantine equation Pm = Ftn modulo the primes from a carefully selected finite set of suitable primes. 2010 Mathematics Subject Classification: Primary 11D59, 11D09, 11D7; Secondary 11A55.
    [Show full text]