Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2015/ii/paper-4/1h/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 ii Paper 4 1H Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
Write with odd. If , the polynomial factor of by , evaluated at , supplies a proper divisor. Therefore must be a power of two. Conversely this is only a necessary condition for primality testing.
For a prime factor of the number, is odd and does not divide . Its multiplicative order satisfies but , since . When is a power of two, every proper divisor of divides , so . By Lagrange theorem in the multiplicative group of a finite field, . Thus .
The Fermat factorization method searches for a difference of two squares: starting at , increase until , and return . Every factorization of an odd integer has this form, with and . For , the successive differences at are . The last is , giving . Trial division by the primes up to their respective square roots confirms that both factors are prime.
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