Sunday, 19 April 2026

Exercise (6.2).16

Find the order of $2 \pmod {1001}$.


We first check $\gcd(1001, 2)=1$ which means the order exists.

The order is a factor of $\phi(1001)=720$. These factors are 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 15, 16, 18, 20, 24, 30, 36, 40, 45, 48, 60, 72, 80, 90, 120, 144, 180, 240, 360, 720. 

The following tables shows calculations for the first few factors, and shows the order is not one of the factors between 2 and 36.

n2^n2^n mod 1001
244
388
41616
53232
66464
8256256
9512512
10102423
12409692
1532768736
1665536471
18262144883
201048576529
2416777216456
301073741824155
3668719476736911

We need undertake the calculations more indirectly, as follows, making use of these previous results

$$ 2^{40} \equiv (2^{10})^4 \equiv (23)^4 \equiv 562 \pmod {1001} $$

$$ 2^{45} \equiv (2^9)^5 \equiv (512)^5 \equiv 967 \pmod {1001} $$

$$ 2^{48} \equiv (2^{12})^4 \equiv (92)^4 \equiv 729 \pmod {1001} $$

$$ 2^{60} \equiv (2^{30})^2 \equiv (155)^2 \equiv 1 \pmod {1001} $$


And so the order of 2 modulo 1001 is 60.