Sunday, 6 September 2026

Exercise (8.1).24

Prove Theorem (8.7).


Let's remind ourselves of Converse of Sum of Two Squares Theorem (8.7). 

Let $m = p_1 \times p_2 \times \ldots \times p_r × N^2$ where $p$’s are distinct primes. If $m$ can be expressed as sum of two squares then none of these primes $p_j$ satisfies $p_j \equiv 3 \pmod 4$ for $j= 1, \ldots , r$.


Suppose for the purpose of contradiction that there exists a prime $p$ amongst the $p_j$ such that $p\equiv3 \pmod 4$.


We are assuming $m$ can be expressed as a sum of two squares, so for some natural numbers $a,b$ we have

$$ m= a^2 +b^2 = p_1 \times p_2 \times \ldots \times p_r \times N^2 $$

This means $p \mid a^2 + b^2$.  That is

$$ a^2 \equiv -b^2 \pmod p $$

Let's now consider the quadratic residue $-b^2 \pmod p$

$$ (\frac{-b^2}{p}) =  (\frac{-1}{p}) \times (\frac{b^2}{p})  = (\frac{-1}{p}) \times (1) = (\frac{-1}{p}) $$

For $ a^2 \equiv -b^2 \pmod p $ to have a solution, this requires $p \equiv 1 \pmod 4$ by Proposition (7.11).


This contradicts $p \equiv 3 \pmod 4$, and so proves the Theorem.