Past exam of the year 1 of the computer science course of the University of Oxford / 2015 / Discrete mathematics, continuous mathematics, and probability / 3 / c / iii / Solution

Set $(a_0,b_0)=(a,b)$. At each iteration with $b_i>0$, compute the remainder $r_i=a_i\mathrm{mod}{b}_i$, then setStop at the first index $n$ with $b_n=0$ and return $a_n$. The positive second coordinates strictly decrease, so algorithm termination follows from the well-ordering principle. The equality of greatest common divisors established in (ii) is a loop invariant, and at termination it gives