Primitive Root(Part II)

from wikipedia:

In modular arithmetic, a number g is a primitive root modulo n if every number a coprime to n is congruent to a power of g modulo n. That is, g is a primitive root modulo n, if for every integer a coprime to n, there is some integer k for which g^k ≡ a (mod n). Such a value k is called the index or discrete logarithm of a to the base g modulo n. Note that g is a primitive root modulo n if and only if g is a generator of the multiplicative group of integers modulo n.

This is part II of the explanation of primitive root, directly following the previous part which introduces some prelimanary concepts and how we can identify primitive root, as well as the proof for the order of magnitude of them. We shall proceed with the proof for existence of primitive root.

Finding Primitive Root

Theorem 3

${\mathbb{Z}}_n$ has primitive root if and only if $n=2,4,p^k,and2p^k$ where $p$ is an odd prime.

1 is the primitive root modulo 2, while 3 is the primitive root modulo 4. Let’s proceed with odd primes.

Theorem 3.1

For odd prime $p$, ${\mathbb{Z}}_p$ has primitive root.

To prove this, consider any 2 integer $a,b$ that is coprime with $p$.

Start with the prime factorisation for ${ϵ}_m(a),{ϵ}_m(b),$

$${ϵ}_m(a)=\prod _{i=1}^n{p}_i^{{\alpha }_i},{ϵ}_m(b)=\prod _{i=1}^n{p}_i^{{\beta }_i}$$

then let

$$a_1=\prod p_i^{{\alpha }_i},a_2=\frac{{ϵ}_m(a)}{a_1},where{\alpha }_i>{\beta }_i$$
and
$$b_1=\prod p_i^{{\beta }_i},b_2=\frac{{ϵ}_m(b)}{b_1},where{\alpha }_i<{\beta }_i$$

From Theorem 4.1 we have

$${ϵ}_m\left(a^{a_1}\right)=\frac{{ϵ}_m(a)}{\gcd ({ϵ}_m(a),a_1)}=\frac{a_1{a}_2}{a_1}=a_2$$

and

$${ϵ}_m\left(b^{b_2}\right)=\frac{{ϵ}_m(b)}{\gcd ({ϵ}_m(b),b_2)}=\frac{b_1{b}_2}{b_2}=b_1$$

Since $\gcd (a_2,b_1)=1$(notice how we split the factors)，from the multiplicability of primitive root $$\begin{array}{rl}{ϵ}_m\left(a^{a_1}{b}^{b_1}\right)=& {ϵ}_m\left(a^{a_1}\right){ϵ}_m\left(b^{b_2}\right)\\ =& a_1{b}_2\\ =& \mathrm{lcm}({ϵ}_p(a),{ϵ}_p(b))\end{array}$$
Thus, there exist integer $k$ such that $${ϵ}_p(k)=\mathrm{lcm}({ϵ}_p(a),{ϵ}_p(b))$$

Since all integers from 1 to $p$-1 is coprime to $p$, then there exist integer $j$
such that ${ϵ}_p(j)=\mathrm{lcm}({ϵ}_p(i),i\in [1,p-1])$

Thus, ${ϵ}_p(i)\mid {ϵ}_p(j)(i\in [1,p-1])$，and $i\in [1,p-1]$ are roots to the equations$x^{{ϵ}_p(j)}\equiv 1(\mathrm{m}\mathrm{o}\mathrm{d}p)$

From Lagrange’s theorem (number theory), ${ϵ}_p(j)\ge p-1$

From Fermat’s little theorem, $$\begin{gathered} j^{p-1}\equiv 1(\mathrm{m}\mathrm{o}\mathrm{d}p), \\ hence{ϵ}_p(j)\le p-1 \end{gathered}$$，and ${ϵ}_p(j)=p-1=\phi (p)$.

Hence, $j$ is a primitive root modulo $p$ .

Theorem 3.2

For odd prime $p$，$\alpha \in {\mathbb{N}}^{\ast }$，${\mathbb{Z}}_{p^{\alpha }}$ has primitive root.

To prove this, suppose odd prime $p$ has primitive root $r$, notice that
$${ϵ}_p(r)=\phi (p)=p-1$$
Let $k={ϵ}_{p^2}(r)$, thus
$$\begin{gathered} r^k\equiv 1(\mathrm{m}\mathrm{o}\mathrm{d}{p}^2) \\ and{r}^k\equiv 1(\mathrm{m}\mathrm{o}\mathrm{d}p) \\ sincegcd(r^k,p^2)=1 \end{gathered}$$
From Theorem 1.2,we have ${ϵ}_p(r)=\phi (p)=p-1|k$ and $k|\phi (p^2)=p(p-1)$

Hence, $k=p(p-1)$ or $p-1$.

When $k=p(p-1)$, since $\phi (p^2)=p(p-1)$, $k$ is the primitive root of $p^2$.

When $k=p-1$, take $m=p+r$ which is also a primitive root of $r$,

Similar to $r$, let $l={ϵ}_{p^2}(m)$, then $l=p(p-1)$ or $p-1$.

However, note that

$$\begin{array}{rl}{m}^{p-1}\equiv & (p+r{)}^{p-1}\\ \equiv & p\ast r^{p-2}+r^{p-1}\\ \equiv & p\ast r^{p-2}+1(\mathrm{m}\mathrm{o}\mathrm{d}{p}^2)\end{array}$$
since $p\nmid r^{p-2},p^2\nmid p{r}^{p-2}$, and $m^{p-1}\not\equiv 1(\mathrm{m}\mathrm{o}\mathrm{d}{p}^2)$.

Hence, $l=p(p-1)$ and thus $m$ a primitive root of $p^2$.

We can prove by induction that $p^{\alpha }$ has a primitive root for all $\alpha \in {\mathbb{N}}^{\ast }$ using a similar argument.

$m=2p^{\alpha }$，其中 $p$ 为奇素数，$\alpha \in {\mathbb{N}}^{\ast }$。

Theorem 3.3

For odd prime $p$，$\alpha \in {\mathbb{N}}^{\ast }$，${\mathbb{Z}}_{2p^{\alpha }}$ has primitive root.

To prove this, let $s$ be a primitive root modulus $p^{\alpha }$, then $s+p^{\alpha }$ is another primitive modulus $p^{\alpha }$.

Note that exactly one of the two is odd, suppose it is $s_0$, then $\gcd (s_0,2p^{\alpha })=1$

Since ${s_0}^{{ϵ}_{2p^{\alpha }}(s_0)}\equiv 1(\mathrm{m}\mathrm{o}\mathrm{d}2p^{\alpha }),{s_0}^{{ϵ}_{2p^{\alpha }}(s_0)}\equiv 1(\mathrm{m}\mathrm{o}\mathrm{d}{p}^{\alpha })$

From Theorem 1.2, $\phi (2p^{\alpha })|{ϵ}_{2p^{\alpha }}(s_0)$,

Again from Theorem 1.2, ${ϵ}_{2p^{\alpha }}(s_0)|\phi (2p^{\alpha })$,

Thus, ${ϵ}_{2p^{\alpha }}(s_0)=\phi (2p^{\alpha })$, $s_0$ is a primitive root modulus $2p^{\alpha }$

Links

Primitive Root(Part1)
Primitive Root(Part2)