Saturday, 11 April 2026

Exercise (6.1).16

Prove that if $a$ modulo $n$ has order $k$ then so does the inverse of $a$ modulo $n$ have order $k$.


By definition of order, we have $ a^k \equiv 1 \pmod n $ where $k$ is the least positive $j$ such that $ a^j \equiv 1 \pmod n $. Factorising gives us $ a \times a^{k-1} \equiv 1 \pmod n $ which means the inverse of $a$ modulo $n$ is $a^{k-1}$.


To show that $k$ is also the order of $a^{k-1}$, we need to show both

  • $(a^{k-1})^k \equiv 1 \pmod n$ and $\gcd(a^{k-1},n)=1$
  • $k$ is the least positive integer $j$ such that $(a^{k-1})^j \equiv 1 \pmod n$


That $\gcd(a^{k-1},n)=1$ is true follows from $\gcd(a,n)=1$. We continue,

$$ \begin{align} (a^{k-1})^k & \equiv (a^{k})^k \times (a^{k})^{-1} \pmod n  \\ \\ & \equiv (1)^k \times (1)^{-1} \pmod n \\ \\ & \equiv 1 \pmod n  \end{align} $$


For the purpose of contradiction, assume $g < k$ is the order of $a^{k-1}$. This means

$$ \begin{align} (a \times a^{k-1})^g & \equiv (1)^g \pmod n \\ \\ a^g \times (a^{k-1})^g & \equiv 1 \pmod n \\ \\ a^g \times (1)^g & \equiv 1 \pmod n \\ \\ a^g & \equiv 1 \pmod n   \end{align} $$

This suggests $k$ is not the order of $a$ since $k<g$. This contradicts the given $k$ as the order of $a$ modulo $n$. And so the assumption $g < k$ is not true, and $k$ is the least positive integer $j$ such that $(a^{k-1})^j \equiv 1 \pmod n$. That is, $k$ is the order of $a^{k-1}$ modulo $n$.


And so $k$ being the order of $a$ modulo $n$ implies $k$ is also the order of the inverse of $a$ modulo $n$.