Fermat's little theorem

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Fermat's little theorem states that if p is a prime number, then for any integer a, the number apa is an integer multiple of p. In the notation of
modular arithmetic, this is expressed as

For example, if a = 2 and p = 7, 27 = 128, and 1282 = 7 18 is an integer multiple of 7.

If a is not divisible by p, Fermat's little theorem is equivalent to the statement that ap11 is an integer multiple of p, or in symbols
[1][2]

For example, if a = 2 and p = 7 then 26 = 64 and 641 = 63 is a multiple of 7.

Fermat's little theorem is the basis for the Fermat primality test and is one of the fundamental results of elementary number theory. The theorem is
named after Pierre de Fermat, who stated it in 1640. It is called the "little theorem" to distinguish it from Fermat's last theorem.[3]

Contents
1 History
1.1 Further history
2 Proofs
3 Generalizations
4 Converse
5 Pseudoprimes
6 MillerRabin primality test
7 See also
8 Notes
9 References
10 Further reading

11 External links

History
Pierre de Fermat rst stated the theorem in a letter dated October 18, 1640, to his friend and condant Frnicle de
Bessy. His formulation is equivalent to the following:[3]
If p is a prime and a is any integer not divisible by p, then ap11 is divisible by p.
In fact, the original statement was
Tout nombre premier mesure infailliblement une des puissances 1 de quelque progression que ce
soit, et l'exposant de la dite puissance est sous-multiple du nombre premier donn 1; et, aprs
qu'on a trouv la premire puissance qui satisfait la question, toutes celles dont les exposants sont
multiples de l'exposant de la premire satisfont tout de mme la question.
This may be translated in modern terminology, with explanations and formulas inserted between brackets, for
easier understanding:
Every prime number [p] divides necessarily one of the powers 1 of any [geometric] progression [a,

a2,a3,...] [that is there exists t such that p divides at1], and the exponent of this power [t]
divides the given prime 1 [divides p1]; and, after one has found the rst power [t] that satises

the question, all those whose exponents are multiple of the exponent of the rst one satisfy similarly
the question [that is, all multiples of the rst t have the same property].
Fermat did not consider the case where a is a multiple of p nor prove his assertion, only stating:[4]

Pierre de Fermat

Et cette proposition est gnralement vraie en toutes progressions et en tous nombres premiers; de quoi je vous envoierois la dmonstration,
si je n'apprhendois d'tre trop long.

(And this proposition is generally true for all series [sic] and for all prime numbers; I would send you a demonstration of it, if I did not fear
going on for too long.)[5]
Euler provided the rst published proof in 1736 in a paper entitled "Theorematum Quorundam ad Numeros Primos Spectantium Demonstratio" in the
Proceedings of the St. Petersburg Academy,[6] but Leibniz had given virtually the same proof in an unpublished manuscript from sometime before
1683.[3]
The term "Fermat's Little Theorem" was probably rst used in print in 1913 in Zahlentheorie by Kurt Hensel:
Fr jede endliche Gruppe besteht nun ein Fundamentalsatz, welcher der kleine Fermatsche Satz genannt zu werden pegt, weil ein ganz
spezieller Teil desselben zuerst von Fermat bewiesen worden ist."

(There is a fundamental theorem holding in every nite group, usually called Fermat's little Theorem because Fermat was the rst to have
proved a very special part of it.)
An early use in English occurs in A.A. Albert, Modern Higher Algebra (1937), which refers to "the so-called "little" Fermat theorem" on page 206.

Further history
Some mathematicians independently made the related hypothesis (sometimes incorrectly called the Chinese Hypothesis) that 2p2(modp) if and
only if p is a prime. Indeed, the "if" part is true, and is a special case of Fermat's little theorem. However, the "only if" part of this hypothesis is false: for
example, 23412(mod341), but 341=1131 is a pseudoprime. See below.

Proofs

Several proofs of Fermat's little theorem are known. It is frequently proved as a corollary of Euler's theorem.

Generalizations
Fermat's little theorem is a special case of Euler's theorem: for any modulus n and any integer a coprime to n, we have

where (n) denotes Euler's totient function (which counts the integers between 1 and n that are coprime to n). Euler's theorem is indeed a
generalization, because if n=p is a prime number, then (p)=p1.
A slight generalization of Euler's theorem, which immediately follows from it, is: if a,n,x,y are integers with n positive and a and n coprime, then
If

, then

This follows as x is of the form y+(n)k, so

In this form, the theorem nds many uses in cryptography and, in particular, underlies the computations used in the RSA public key encryption method.[7]
The special case with n a prime may be considered a consequence of Fermat's little theorem.
Fermat's little theorem is also related to Carmichael's theorem, as well as to Lagrange's theorem in group theory.
The algebraic setting of Fermat's little theorem can be generalized to nite elds.

Converse
The converse of Fermat's little theorem is not generally true, as it fails for Carmichael numbers. However, a slightly stronger form of the theorem is true,
and is known as Lehmer's theorem. The theorem is as follows:
If there exists an a such that

and for all primes q dividing p1

and for all primes q dividing p1

then p is prime.
This theorem forms the basis for the LucasLehmer test, an important primality test.

Pseudoprimes
If a and p are coprime numbers such that ap11 is divisible by p, then p need not be prime. If it is not, then p is called a pseudoprime to base a (or
a Fermat pseudoprime). F. Sarrus in 1820 found 341 = 1131 as one of the rst pseudoprimes, to base 2.
A number p that is a pseudoprime to base a for every number a coprime to p is called a Carmichael number (e.g. 561). Alternately, any number p
satisfying the equality

is either a prime or a Carmichael number.

MillerRabin primality test

MillerRabin primality test uses the following extension of Fermat's little theorem:
If p is an odd prime number, and p1=2sd, with d odd, then for every a prime to p, either ad1modp, or there exists t such that
t

0t<s and a2 d1modp

This result may be deduced from Fermat's little theorem by the fact that, if p is an odd prime, then the integers modulo p form a nite eld, in which 1
has exactly two square roots, 1 and 1.
MillerRabin test uses this property in the following way. Given p=2sd+1, with d odd, an odd integer for which primality has to be tested, choose

MillerRabin test uses this property in the following way. Given p=2sd+1, with d odd, an odd integer for which primality has to be tested, choose

randomly a such that 1<a<p; then compute b=admodp; if b is not 1 nor 1, then square it repeatedly modulo p until getting 1, 1, or having
squared d times. If b1 and 1 has not been obtained, then p is not prime. Otherwise, p may be prime or not. If p is not prime, the probability that this
is proved by the test is higher than 1/4. Therefore, after k non-conclusive random tests, the probability that p is not prime is lower than (3/4)k, and may
thus be made as low as desired, by increasing k.

In summary, the test either proves that a number is not prime, or asserts that it is prime with a probability of error that may be chosen as low as desired.
The test is very simple to implement and computationally more efcient that all known deterministic tests. Therefore, it is generally used before starting
a proof of primality.

See also
Fractions with prime denominators: numbers with behavior relating to Fermat's little theorem
RSA
p-derivation
Frobenius endomorphism
Table of congruences

Notes
1. Long 1972, pp.8788
2. Pettofrezzo & Byrkit 1970, pp.110111
3. Burton 2011, p.514
4. Fermat, Pierre (1894), Tannery, P.; Henry, C., eds., Oeuvres de Fermat. Tome 2: Correspondance, Paris: Gauthier-Villars, pp.206212 (in French)
5. Mahoney 1994, p.295 for the English translation
6. Ore 1988, p.273
7. Trappe, Wade; Washington, Lawrence C. (2002), Introduction to Cryptography with Coding Theory, Prentice-Hall, p.78, ISBN0-13-061814-4

References
Burton, David M. (2011), The History of Mathematics / An Introduction (7th ed.), McGraw-Hill, ISBN978-0-07-338315-6
Long, Calvin T. (1972), Elementary Introduction to Number Theory (2nd ed.), Lexington: D. C. Heath and Company, LCCN77171950
Mahoney, Michael Sean (1994), The Mathematical Career of Pierre de Fermat, 16011665 (2nd ed.), Princeton University Press, ISBN978-0691-03666-3

Ore, Oystein (1988) [1948], Number Theory and Its History, Dover, ISBN978-0-486-65620-5
Pettofrezzo, Anthony J.; Byrkit, Donald R. (1970), Elements of Number Theory, Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall, LCCN71081766

Further reading
Paulo Ribenboim (1995). The New Book of Prime Number Records (3rd ed.). New York: Springer-Verlag. ISBN 0-387-94457-5. pp.2225, 49.

External links
Jnos Bolyai and the pseudoprimes (http://bolyai.port5.com/kisfermat.htm) (in Hungarian)
Fermat's Little Theorem (http://www.cut-the-knot.org/blue/Fermat.shtml) at cut-the-knot
Euler Function and Theorem (http://www.cut-the-knot.org/blue/Euler.shtml) at cut-the-knot
Fermat's Little Theorem and Sophie's Proof (http://fermatslasttheorem.blogspot.com/2005/08/fermats-little-theorem.html)
Hazewinkel, Michiel, ed. (2001), "Fermat's little theorem", Encyclopedia of Mathematics, Springer, ISBN978-1-55608-010-4
Weisstein, Eric W., "Fermat's Little Theorem" (http://mathworld.wolfram.com/FermatsLittleTheorem.html), MathWorld.
Weisstein, Eric W., "Fermat's Little Theorem Converse" (http://mathworld.wolfram.com/FermatsLittleTheoremConverse.html), MathWorld.

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Categories: Modular arithmetic Theorems about prime numbers
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