Past exam of the short options course of the University of Oxford / 2021 / 1 / b / ii / Solution

The second supplementary law for the Legendre symbol is $(2/p)=(-1{)}^{(p^2-1)/8}$. To multiply these signs, observe that for odd $a,b$,Both factors in the numerator are divisible by $8$, so the right side is even. Applying this identity repeatedly to the prime factorization givesAgain the convention at $Q=1$ agrees.