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Concept
Primitive root modulo n
Summary
In modular arithmetic, a number g is a primitive root modulo n if every number a coprime to n is congruent to a power of g modulo n. That is, g is a primitive root modulo n if for every integer a coprime to n, there is some integer k for which gk ≡ a (mod n). Such a value k is called the index or discrete logarithm of a to the base g modulo n. So g is a primitive root modulo n if and only if g is a generator of the multiplicative group of integers modulo n.
Gauss defined primitive roots in Article 57 of the Disquisitiones Arithmeticae (1801), where he credited Euler with coining the term. In Article 56 he stated that Lambert and Euler knew of them, but he was the first to rigorously demonstrate that primitive roots exist for a prime n. In fact, the Disquisitiones contains two proofs: The one in Article 54 is a nonconstructive existence proof, while the proof in Article 55 is constructive.
The number 3 is a primitive root modulo 7 because
Here we see that the period of 3k modulo 7 is 6. The remainders in the period, which are 3, 2, 6, 4, 5, 1, form a rearrangement of all nonzero remainders modulo 7, implying that 3 is indeed a primitive root modulo 7. This derives from the fact that a sequence (gk modulo n) always repeats after some value of k, since modulo n produces a finite number of values. If g is a primitive root modulo n and n is prime, then the period of repetition is n − 1. Permutations created in this way (and their circular shifts) have been shown to be Costas arrays.
If n is a positive integer, the integers from 1 to n − 1 that are coprime to n (or equivalently, the congruence classes coprime to n) form a group, with multiplication modulo n as the operation; it is denoted by , and is called the group of units modulo n, or the group of primitive classes modulo n. As explained in the article multiplicative group of integers modulo n, this multiplicative group () is cyclic if and only if n is equal to 2, 4, p^k, or 2p^k where p^k is a power of an odd prime number.
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