Problem:
Let be a prime number that leaves remainder 1 upon division by 6. Set . Prove that is divisible without remainder by .
Problem:
Let be a prime number that leaves remainder 1 upon division by 6. Set . Prove that is divisible without remainder by .
Solution:
The solution consists of three steps:
1. is divisible by 127.
2. is divisible by .
3. 127 and are coprime.
On 1: We have . From it follows that , hence . With it follows from this that .
On 2: We have (Fermat's little theorem), i.e. . From it then follows that .
On 3: We have if and only if is divisible by 7 (write with and use ). Since , this is not the case, so is not divisible by 127, and since 127 is a prime number, 127 and are coprime.