Monday, 5 January 2026

Exercise (4.2).9

Find the least non-negative residue

$$ \left [ \left ( \frac{29-1}{2} \right )! \right ]^2 \pmod {29}$$


The expression $\left ( \frac{29-1}{2} \right )!$ reduces to $14!$. 

$$ \begin{align} 14 ! & \equiv 2 \cdot 3 \cdot 4 \cdot 5 \cdot 6 \cdot 7 \cdot 8 \cdot 9 \cdot 10 \cdot 11 \cdot 12 \cdot 13 \cdot 14 \pmod {29}  \\ \\  & \equiv (2 \cdot 3 \cdot 5) \cdot (4 \cdot 7) \cdot (6 \cdot 10) \cdot (9 \cdot 13) \cdot (8 \cdot 11) \cdot 12  \cdot 14 \\ \\ & \equiv (1) \cdot (-1) \cdot (2) \cdot (1) \cdot (1) \cdot 12  \cdot 14 \\ \\ & \equiv -12 \cdot (2 \cdot 14) \\ \\ & \equiv -12 \cdot (-1) \\ \\ & \equiv 12 \end{align} $$

And so

$$ (14 !)^2 \equiv 28 \pmod {29} $$

The least non-negative residue is 28.