Tuesday, 21 July 2026

Exercise (7.3).4

Prove Lemma (7.13).


Let's remind ourselves of Lemma (7.13).

Let $p$ be an odd prime and $a$ be an integer such that $p \not \mid a$. Then

$$ a, 2a, 3a, ⋯ , (\frac{p-1}{2})a \not \equiv 0 \pmod p $$


Consider the number $ka$ where $k$ is an integer such that $1 \le k \le (\frac{p-1}{2})$.

Since $p$ does not divide $a$, then we consider whether $p$ divides $k$. We can see that $p$ does not divide $k$ because $k < p$.

And so $p$ does not divide $ka$. Equivalently, $ka \not \equiv 0 \pmod p$. 

That is,

$$ a, 2a, 3a, ⋯ , (\frac{p-1}{2})a \not \equiv 0 \pmod p $$