Solution of linear congruence system Solve { <mtable columnalign="left left" rowspac

Richardtb

Richardtb

Answered question

2022-05-23

Solution of linear congruence system
Solve { 2 x 1   ( mod 5 ) ( 5 x + 2 ) 2 ( mod 18 )
Now I have read about the Chinese Remainder Theorem, which is particularily helpful in solving systems of linear congruence, but in this notice that the moduli are not relatively prime (pairwise). So, I cannot apply the theorem. In fact this leads me to a general question: If we are given as system:
a 1 x b 1 ( mod n 1 ) a 2 x b 2 ( mod n 2 ) a 3 x b 3 ( mod n 3 ) a 4 x b 4 ( mod n 4 ) . . . a r x b r ( mod n r )
where the moduli are not pairwise relatively prime. How do we go about solving this system and what are the conditions that determine the solvability of the system.

Answer & Explanation

Pedro Hurley

Pedro Hurley

Beginner2022-05-24Added 9 answers

Step 1
2 x 1 ( mod 5 )
5 x + 2 2 ( mod 18 )
You can solve this using some modified techniques of regular algebra.
For example if 2 x = 1, makes you want to divide by 2, but how do you do that modulo 5? You multiply by the multiplicative inverse of 2 modulo 5. Given 2 x 1, multiply both sides by 3, 6 x 3 ( mod 5 ). But 6 1 ( mod 5 ). So the multiplication gives you x 3 ( mod 5 ).
Step 2
Something similar applies to the second equation.
5 x + 2 2 ( mod 18 )
Subtract 2 from both sides: 5 x 0 ( mod 18 ).
Dividing by 5 is multiplying by 11 in modulo 18.
So ultimately, the second equation becomes x 0 ( mod 18 ).
So now we have two congruence relations: x 3 ( mod 5 )
x 0 ( mod 18 ).
Step 3
Now you can use the chinese remainder theorem. The definitions lead you to some possible answers.
x 3 ( mod 5 ) x = 5 p + 3.
Plug that in to x on the left of the second congruence:
5 p + 3 = 0 ( mod 18 )
5 p 15 ( mod 18 ). So multiply by 11:
p 3 ( mod 18 ) p = 18 q + 3
So x = 90 q + 18 x 18 ( mod 90 )
You can use the extended Euclidean algorithm to find multiplicative inverses. Bezout's Identity helps get the inverses and works to prove the chinese remainder theorem.
velitshh

velitshh

Beginner2022-05-25Added 2 answers

Step 1
You don't need any special theorems to do this problem because the second equation says we are looking for 5x to be a multiple of 18. But 5 and 18 are relatively prime so we must have x be a multiple of 18.
We first try 18 and we not that 2 18 = 36 which is congruent to 1 mod 5.
Step 2
Any multiple of 18 solves the second equation and 18 + 5 k solves the first equation. Since 18 + 5 k must be a multiple of 18 to satisfy the second equation, we must have that k is a multiple of 18.
Therefore, the general solution is 18 + 5 ( 18 m ) = 18 + 90 m = 18 ( 1 + 5 m ).

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