Trap Door

Leonhard Euler, 1736.

Let

[Graphics:Images/rsa4_gr_1.gif]

be the number of positive integers less than or equal to n which don't have any common factors with n.

Example:  If n=15, then the positive integers less than or equal to n which don't have any common factors with n are 1, 2, 4, 7, 8, 11, 13, 14.  So

[Graphics:Images/rsa4_gr_2.gif]

In the RSA system n=pq, so

[Graphics:Images/rsa4_gr_3.gif]

is the number of positive integers less than or equal to n which don't have p or q as a factor.

How many positive integers less than or equal to n do have p as a factor?
    p, 2p, 3p, ..., n=qp
so there are q of them.

Similarly, there are p positive integers less than or equal to n with q as a factor.

Only one positive integer less than or equal to n has both p and q as factors, namely n=pq.  So we should only count this once.

Therefore,

[Graphics:Images/rsa4_gr_4.gif]

This is private!  You can't calculate it without knowing p and q.

Euler's Theorem:  if x is an integer which has no common prime factors with n, then

[Graphics:Images/rsa4_gr_5.gif]

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Converted by Mathematica      February 7, 2001