Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2019/ii/paper-2/1i/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 ii Paper 2 1I Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
If the positive odd integer has prime factorizationits Jacobi symbol iswhere each factor is a Legendre symbol; by convention . Thus the symbol is zero exactly when .
The quadratic reciprocity law for the Jacobi symbol says that for coprime positive odd integers ,To prove it, write and . The quadratic reciprocity law for distinct odd primes statesMultiplying this identity over with multiplicities gives the required product of Jacobi symbols. Its sign exponent modulo two isbecause multiplication of odd integers adds the quantities modulo two. This proves the law.
For the requested value, two applications of reciprocity givesince , , and is a quadratic nonresidue modulo .
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