DISCRETE MATHEMATICS

DIVISIBILITY a key concept in number theory in which a divides b and write a|b in case b/a is
an integer. Also, a is a divisor and that b is a multiple of a. If a | b is false, we
write, a ∤ b

Note: b/a means b ÷ a

Theorem 3.1: If a | b, then a | bc for all a,b,c  Z

Theorem 3.2: If a | b and b | c then a|c for all a,b,c  Z
Theorem 3.3: If c|a and c|b, then c|(a + b) for all a, b, c  Z
Theorem 3.4: If a | b and a | c then a | (bx + cy) for every x and y in Z. In particular,
if a | b and a | c then a | (b + c) and a | (b – c)

DIVISION ALGORITHM an effective method for producing such quotient and remainder.

Theorem 3.5: If a,b  Z, with b > 0, then there exist a unique q, r  Z with
a = qb + r, 0  r  b

Example 1: Determine the quotient and remainder of 23  8

Solution:
Note that a = 23 and b = 8
Performing long division,
23/8 = quotient (q) = 2 and remainder ® = 7
Thus we have, q = 2 and r = 7

a = qb + r  2(8) + 7; 0  7  8

GREATEST COMMON DIVISOR

A positive integer e is said to be a common divisor of a and b if e|a and e|b. The greatest common
divisor of a and b is the positive integer d denoted by d satisfying (i) d | a and d | b, and (ii) if e|a and
e|b, then if e  d

Example 2: Determine the common divisors and the greatest common divisors of 24 and 18
Solution:
The common divisors of 24 and 18 are 1, 2, 3, and 6
The greatest common divisor is 6

Theorem 3.8: (Euclidean Algorithm) If a, b  Z+, we apply the division algorithm as follows:
a = q1b + r1 ; 0 < r1 < b
b = q2r1 + r2 ; 0 < r2 < r2
r1 = q3r2 + r3 ; 0 < r3 < r2
: : ; : :
rk-2 = qkrk-1 + rk ; 0 < rk < rk – 1
rk-1 = qk+1 rk ;
Then the last nonzero remainder rk is the greatest common divisor of a and b or gcd(a,b) = rk

NUMBER THEORY 1
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Example 3. Determine the greatest common divisors of 372 and 132

Solution:
Let a = 372 and b = 132, then apply the Euclidean algorithm
373 = 2(132) + 108
132 = 1(108) + 24
108 = 4(24) + 12
24 = 2(12) + 0

The gcd of (372, 132) = 12 = d

PRIME NUMBERS
If p  Z and p > 1, we say that p is prime if and only positive divisor of p are only 1 and itself.

Example 4. Determine whether 31 and 57 is a prime or composite number

Solution:
a. Let n = 31. To find the prime factors of n, extract the √31
The resulting value is less than 6, so the prime we need to test are 2, 3, 5. None of these divides
31, so 31 is a prime number
b. Let n= 57, the resulting prime numbers less than √57 are 2, 3, 5, 7. Note that 3|57, thus 57 is a
composite number

RELATIVELY PRIME NUMBER

Two integers a and b are relatively prime if the greatest common divisor is 1, in symbol, (a,b) = 1. If (pi,
pj) = 1 for i  j for all 1  i  n and 1  j  n then the integers p1, p2,… pn are said to be pairwise relatively
prime

Example 5. Evaluate if the given pair of numbers are relatively prime

a. (144, 43)
Solution: Apply Euclidean algorithm
144 = 3(43) + 15
43 = 2(15) + 13
15 = 1(13) + 2
13 = 6(2) + 1
2 = 2(1)

The gcd of (144,43) = 1 = d, thus 144 and 43 are relatively prime

NUMBER THEORY 2
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b. (108, 87)
108 = 1(87) + 21
87 = 4(21) + 3
21 = 7(3) + 0

The gcd of (108, 87) is 3 = d, since gcd is not equal to 1, 108 and 87 are not relatively prime

Example 6. Find the value of x and y, given (a,b) = (37, 13)

Solution:
a. Compute for the greatest common divisor of (37, 13)
37 = 2(13) + 11
13 = 1(11) + 2
11 = 5(2) + 1
2 = 2(1)

The gcd of (37, 13) = 1 = d shows that 37 and 13 are relatively prime. This also confirms that there
exist integers x and y

b. Apply the backtracking of Euclidean algorithm

1 = 11 – 5(2)
= 11 – 5[13 – 1(11)]
= 11 – 5(13) + 5(11)
= 6(11) – 5(13)
= 6[37 – 2(13)] – 5(13)
= 6(37) – 12(13) – 5(13)
= 6(37) – 17(13)

Recall that ax + by = 1, since a = 37 and b = 13; thus x = 6 and y = -17

LEAST COMMON MULTIPLE

Given two integers a and b. Then the least common multiple (lcm) of a and b is the positive integer m,
denoted by m = [a,b], satisfying the following conditions: (i) a|m and b|m, (ii) if a|n and b|n, then m  n

Note: If the gcd is 1, then lcm is simply the product of the numbers

Example 7. Find the least common multiple of each of the following sets of numbers
a. [12, 18]
12 = 4 . 3 = 2 . 2 . 3 = 22 . 3
18 = 6 . 3 = 2 . 3 . 3 = 2 . 32
Lcm = 22 . 32 = 4 . 9 = 36

NUMBER THEORY 3
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b. [90, 108]
90 = 10 . 9 = 2 . 5 . 3 . 3 = 2 . 32 . 5
108 = 12 . 9 = 4 . 3 . 3 . 3 = 2 . 2 . 3 . 3 . 3 = 22 . 33
Lcm = 22 . 33 . 5

c. [24, 36, 108]

24 = 8 . 3 = 4 . 2 . 3 = 2 . 2 . 2 . 3 = 23 . 3
36 = 9 . 4 = 3 . 3 . 2 . 2 = 32 . 22
108 = 12 . 9 = 4 . 3 . 3 . 3 = 2 . 2 . 3 . 3 . 3 = 22 . 33
Lcm = 23 . 33 = 8 . 27 = 216

EULER’S TOTIENT FUNCTION (PHI FUNCTION)

Let n denote any positive integer. (n) denotes the number of integers not exceeding n that are rela-
tively prime to n. In other words, (n) is the number of integers less than n that are relatively prime n.
That is, if n is a positive integer, then (n) is the number of integers k in the range 1k for which
gcd(n,k) = 1

Example 8. Determine the totient function of the following numbers:

a. 10
Determine the factors of 10 such as 2, 5 , and 10. List all positive integers from 1 to 10 namely 1,
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
Find the numbers that are relatively prime to 10 and the numbers are 1, 3, 7 and 9
Thus, the 𝜑(10) = 4

b. 7
Since 7 is a prime, thus 𝜑(7) = 7 – 1 = 6. The numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6; observe that they are
relatively prime with 7

c. 21
Obtain the factors of n = 21 = 3(7)
Both 3 and 7 is a prime number, apply 𝜑(𝑛) = (𝑝 − 1)(𝑞 − 1). Let p = 3 and q = 7
𝜑(21) = (3 − 1)(7 − 1) = (2)(6) = 12

d. 70
Represent 70 = (7)(10) = mn
Since 10 and 7 is relatively prime or (10,7) = 1
Applying 𝜑(𝑚𝑛) = 𝜑(𝑚)𝜑(𝑛); we have [(10),(7)] = (4)(6) = 24

Thus (70) = 24

NUMBER THEORY 4
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LINEAR DIOPHANTINE EQUATION

A Diophantine Equation is an equation involving a number of variables all of whose coefficients are
integers and to which we seek solutions which are integers. A linear Diophantine equation (in two
variables) is an equation of the form ax + by = c where a, b, and c are integers

Example 9. Find all Z+ solutions of 19x + 7y = 208

Solution:

Determine the gdr of (19, 7)

19 = 2(7) + 5
7 = 1(5) + 2
5 = 2(2) + 1
2 = 2(1)

After obtaining d = 1, we will test if the solutions exist if d|c. since 1|208, then solutions exist. Now we
will determine the values of x0 and y0 such that 19x0 + 7y0 = 1. We need to apply the reverse Euclidean
algorithm

1 = 5 – 2(2)
= 5 – 2[7 – 1(5)]
= 5 – 2(7) + 2(5)
= 3(5) – 2(7)
= 3[19 – 2(7)] – 2(7)
= 3(19) – 6(7) – 2(7)
= 3(19) – 8(7)

Thus, x0 = 3 and y0 = 7

MODULAR ARITHMETIC

Congruence. Let a, b  Z and m  N. “a is congruent to b modulo m”, “a  b (mod m),” if m | (a – b).

The integer m is called the modulus of the congruence. If a is not congruent to b modulo m,
a≢b(mod m)

Example 11. Verify if the following is true:

a. 2  5 (mod 3)
Since 3 | (5 – 2), 2  5 (mod 3)

b. 2  7 (mod 3)
Since 3 ∤ (7 – 2), 2 ≢ 7 (mod 3)

NUMBER THEORY 5
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Example 12. Find the least residue of the following:

a. 11 (mod 8)
The least residue of 11 (mod 8) is 3

b. 4 (mod 9)
The least residue of 4 (mod 9) is 4

Example 13. Find the least residue of (35)(302) (mod 33)

Solution:

We have 35  2 (mod 33) and 30  3 (mod 33)

Then solving for the least residue

(35)(302)  (2)(-3)2  (2)(9)  18 (mod 33)

Since 0  18  33, the least residue is 18

NUMBER THEORY 6