p-adic integer (${\mathbb{Z}}_p$)

The p-adic integers retain arithmetic information modulo arbitrarily high powers of one prime number $p$. They form the subringof the P-adic numbers. Their p-adic absolute value bounds the allowed denominators: $1/3$ belongs to ${\mathbb{Z}}_2$, while $1/2$ does not. The name therefore describes a local arithmetic ring, not just the ordinary integers.^[ref]

A concrete description gives an element by a compatible sequence of congruence classes:The inverse limit condition says that gaining more precision must preserve the digits already determined. Each $r_n$ is a residue modulo $p^n$; choosing its least nonnegative integer representative gives $0\le r_n<p^n$. The ordinary integer $13$ gives residues $1,1,5,13$ modulo $2,4,8,16$.

The useful feature is that one exact object organizes an unlimited family of finite modular arithmetic calculations. Addition and multiplication are performed modulo each $p^n$, and the results remain compatible. A p-adic digit expansion makes this concrete:The expansion is unique and converges in the p-adic metric; its higher powers have smaller p-adic absolute value. The digit agreement and p-adic distance criterion tells exactly which finite digits a precision bound preserves.^[ref]

The p-adic digits are the unique coefficients in $x={\sum }_{j\ge 0}{b}_j{p}^j$ for a p-adic integer $x$. Taking least nonnegative representatives of its congruence classes,so each new residue determines one more p-adic digit. For $13$ in ${\mathbb{Z}}_2$, the low-to-high digits are $1,0,1,1,0,\dots$, giving $13=1+0\cdot 2+1\cdot 4+1\cdot 8$. A finite prefix describes a whole coset, not a unique infinite expansion.

Two p-adic integers agree in their first $n$ low-order p-adic digits precisely when their difference is divisible by $p^n$. Equivalently,If the first differing digit has index $j$, the remaining leading coefficient is nonzero modulo $p$, giving exact P-adic valuation $j$ and p-adic metric $p^{-j}$. If no digit differs, the two elements are equal and their distance is zero. Truncating at $r_n$ therefore gives $|x-r_n{|}_p\le p^{-n}$, with a stricter bound possible when further digits are zero.

Let $a$ be an integer not divisible by $p$. Its modular inverse modulo $p^n$ has a unique least nonnegative representative $r_n$. Reducing the inverse equation modulo $p^n$ shows that the representatives are compatible. Since $a$ is a p-adic unit,so the sequence converges to the inverse $a^{-1}$ in ${\mathbb{Z}}_p$. This computes a fraction through finite integer operations.

For $a=3$ and $p=2$, the first eight representatives are $1,3,3,11,11,43,43,171$. Each satisfies $3r_n\equiv 1(\mathrm{mod}{2}^n)$. The resulting expansion isThe geometric series has ratio $4$, whose 2-adic absolute value is $1/4$, and its sum is $1+2/(1-4)=1/3$. In the ordinary real number absolute value, the representatives grow. Different metrics impose different meanings of a good approximation. The periodic digits here are a specific instance of the rational expansions studied in Conrad's authored note.^[ref]

The p-adic integers form a complete metric space and a discrete valuation ring. Every nonzero $x$ is uniquely $p^{k}u$ with $k=v_p(x)\ge 0$ and $u$ a p-adic unit. The prime $p$ is a uniformizer, and reduction modulo $p$ gives the residue field ${\mathbb{F}}_p$. The element $p$ has no inverse inside ${\mathbb{Z}}_p$, so the ring is not a field.

For a short ideal-classification outline, take a nonzero ideal and choose an element of smallest P-adic valuation $k$, which exists by the well-ordering principle. Its unit factor is invertible, so the ideal contains $p^k$. Every other element is divisible by $p^k$, proving that the ideal is $p^k{\mathbb{Z}}_p$. Completeness follows because ${\mathbb{Z}}_p$ is a closed subset of the complete metric space ${\mathbb{Q}}_p$. The zero ideal is separate from this nonzero-ideal classification.

The cosets $a+p^n{\mathbb{Z}}_p$ form a neighborhood basis in the additive group of p-adic integers. An open subgroup contains $p^n{\mathbb{Z}}_p$ for some $n$, so has finite index. Conversely, if the index is $m$, the finite quotient is annihilated by $m$, giving $m{\mathbb{Z}}_p\subset H$. Multiplication by the unit part of $m$ is bijective, so $m{\mathbb{Z}}_p=p^{v_p(m)}{\mathbb{Z}}_p$ is open. This proof applies to abstract subgroups without assuming beforehand that they are closed.

A 7-adic integer is an element of the p-adic integers for $p=7$, equivalently a compatible sequence of residues modulo $7^r$. Its p-adic digits lie in $\{0,1,\dots ,6\}$. For example, $10=3+1\cdot 7$ has low-to-high digits $3,1,0,\dots$.

A 2-adic integer is an element of the p-adic integers for $p=2$, equivalently a compatible sequence of residues modulo $2^r$. Its binary p-adic digits begin with its parity. The highlighted residue-tree path for $13$ begins $1,0,1,1$, while modular inversion converges to a p-adic inverse computes the infinite expansion of $1/3$.

An element $\alpha \in {\mathbb{Z}}_p$ topologically generates the additive group of ${\mathbb{Z}}_p$ exactly when $\alpha \not\equiv 0(\mathrm{mod}p)$, equivalently when $\alpha$ is a p-adic unit. In that case its image generates every cyclic quotient $\mathbb{Z}/p^n\mathbb{Z}$.