Modular arithmetic
Modular arithmetic a special type of arithmetic that involves only integers. If two integers leave the same remainder when they are divided by some positive integer , we say that and are congruent modulo or .
Contents
[hide]Introductory
Operations
Consider four integers and a positive integer such that and . In modular arithmetic, the following operations are allowed:
- Addition: .
- Substraction: .
- Multiplication: .
- Division: , where is a positive integer that divides and .
- Exponentiation: where is a positive integer.
Examples
Applications
Modular arithmetic is an extremely useful tool in mathematics competitions. It enables us to easily solve Linear diophantine equations, and it often helps with other Diophantine equations as well.
Intermediate
Topics