Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2024 / ii / Paper 3 / 1F / Solution

Write $N={\prod }_i{p}_i^{e_i}$ with odd primes $p_i$. The Jacobi symbol iswhere each factor on the right is a Legendre symbol. The supplementary law isFor coprime positive odd $m,n$, quadratic reciprocity givesApplying this with $m=3$ givesFinally, factor $d=2^{e}m$ with $m$ odd. The supplementary laws for $-1$ and $2$, followed by reciprocity on every odd prime factor of $m$, express $(-d/a)$ solely in terms of the residue class of the positive odd integer $a$ modulo $d$ when $d\equiv 0$ or $3(\mathrm{mod}4)$. If $a\equiv b(\mathrm{mod}d)$, all those factors, including the zero cases, agree; hence