Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2008 ii Paper 3 11H Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-14
For positive odd coprime integers , the Jacobi reciprocity law isFactor . Since is not a square, some is odd. Choose a quadratic nonresidue modulo that , and choose residue one modulo each other . The Chinese remainder theorem provides a positive with these residues and with . Multiplicativity of the Jacobi symbol then gives .
Suppose only finitely many primes satisfy . They are coprime to . Repeat the preceding Chinese remainder theorem construction, additionally imposing at every odd and taking to avoid two. Since , Jacobi reciprocity gives . Factoring this Jacobi symbol over the prime factors of shows that at least one such prime has . But none of the listed primes divides , a contradiction. This proves the infinitely many prime quadratic nonresidues of a nonsquare integer assertion.