Tuesday, 2 December 2025

Exercise (3.5).11

Factorise the following trapdoor functions (these small numbers are not good candidates for the trapdoor

functions) into two primes:

(a) 411 (b) 2419 (c) 17 947


(a) Since 411 is not too large, we can test primes up to $\sqrt{411}$.

We find that 3 is a factor, leaving, 137. Testing primes up to $\sqrt{137}$ tells us 137 is prime.

So $411 = 3 \times 137$.


(b) $\lceil \sqrt{2419} \rceil = 50$, and $50^2 - 2419 = 9^2$, and so $2419 = (50-9)(50+9) = 41 \times 59$.

So $2419 = 41 \times 59$.


(c) $\lceil \sqrt{17947} \rceil = 134$ and $134^2 - 17947 = 3^2$, and so $17947 = (134+3)(134-3) = 131 \times 137$.

So $17947 = 131 \times 137$.