Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2013/ia/paper-4/1e/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 ia Paper 4 1E Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-07
The greatest common divisor is the largest positive integer dividing both and . To prove Bézout's identity without assuming a factorization theorem, consider the nonempty set of positive integer linear combinationsIt contains , so the well-ordering principle gives a least element . By Euclidean division, write with . Thenis another integer linear combination. If , it contradicts minimality, so and . Applying the same argument to gives . Conversely, every common divisor divides every integer linear combination and therefore divides . In particular every positive common divisor is at most . Thus andThis also proves the requested divisibility implication for any integer : if and , then .
For the scaling identity for greatest common divisors, put with . Since divides and , . On the other hand, multiplying Bézout's identity by expresses as , so . Positivity gives . Therefore without using prime factorization,
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