Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2023/ii/paper-4/11g/d/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 ii Paper 4 11G d Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Put . Because , the supplementary laws giveLet and be the quadratic residues and nonresidues, respectively, among , and putSince is a nonresidue, the complete set of least positive quadratic residues isIf , its sum is
Since is a residue, multiplication by two permutes modulo . Exactly the upper-half residues cross when doubled. Equality of the sums before and after reduction therefore givesComparing the two formulas yieldsAs ,This is the lower-half quadratic-residue sum for primes congruent to seven modulo eight.
New to topics? Read the docs here!