Fermat's Little Theorem

Revision as of 13:34, 18 June 2006 by MCrawford (talk | contribs) (added "de" to Fermat's name)

Statement

If ${a}$ is an integer and ${p}$ is a prime number, then $a^{p-1}\equiv 1 \pmod {p}$.

Note: This theorem is a special case of Euler's totient theorem.

Corollary

A frequently used corolary of Fermat's little theorem is $a^p \equiv a \pmod {p}$. As you can see, it is derived by multipling both sides of the theorem by a.

Credit

This theorem is credited to Pierre de Fermat.

See also