Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-oxford/2015/prelims/mathematics-iv/6/a/ii/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Oxford 2015 Prelims Mathematics IV 6 a ii Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
At any division step , an integer divides both exactly when it divides both : one direction uses , and the other uses . HenceStarting with , , the Euclidean division producesThe nonzero remainders form a strictly decreasing sequence of positive integers. Such a sequence must terminate, since there are only finitely many positive integers below . Suppose is the last nonzero remainder, so . The unchanged greatest common divisor at each step givesThe final equality holds because the positive common divisors of and are precisely the positive divisors of . This proves both termination and correctness of the Euclidean algorithm.
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