Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Sections 3.6-3.7 due Oct. 6th

(Interesting)
I enjoyed the section on primitive roots. Admittedly, when the idea of a multiplicative generator was covered in Abstract Algebra, I didn't see much of a reason for it. It seemed like nothing more than a neat idea. Since we used this technique with tabulating finite fields, and now with multiplication tables mod n, I am starting to see how many of these seemingly obscure concepts come together. It is amazing how cryptography uses facets from so many branches of mathematics.

(Difficult)

Euler's function was the most difficult to fully understand. I could see how it worked in the examples, but the proof of it was harder to follow. Knowing why something works can be just as important as knowing how something works, so I hope I will understand it better when it comes up in class.

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