Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2014/ia/paper-4/6e/iii/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 ia Paper 4 6E iii Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
Suppose is a quadratic nonresidue. On the nonzero residue classes modulo , define the involutionIt is an involution because . A fixed point would satisfy , which is excluded by the quadratic nonresidue hypothesis. Thus it partitions the classes into disjoint pairs , each with product . ConsequentlyNow evaluate the same product by pairing every class with its own modular inverse. The only classes equal to their modular inverses solve and hence are and . All other pairs have product one. The complete product is therefore , soTogether with the preceding part, this is Euler's criterion; the pairing argument establishes the converse without assuming it.
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