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The Unique Factorization Theorem tells us that for any integer n 2, if p1 , p2 , . . . , pk are
all the distinct primes that divide n, then we may express
n = p1 1 p2 2 pk k ,
where 1 , 2 , . . . , k N. For example, the prime divisors of 80262 are 2, 3, 7 and 13, and,
in particular, 80262 = 21 32 73 131 .
Note that in the unique prime factorization of 80262, we cannot use primes such as 5, 11
or 17 as they do not divide 80262. However, if we are willing to give up on the uniqueness
of the factorization, then we may write 80262 = 21 32 50 73 110 131 170 . The
key here is that 50 , 110 and 170 are all equal to 1, so their inclusion in the product has not
changed the overall answer. Nevertheless, this has now allowed us to use a larger list of
primes in the factorization of 80262, at the cost of losing the guarantee that these primes
will divide 80262.
In general, given any integer n 2, if we have a large enough list of distinct primes
p1 , p2 , . . . , pm that includes all the prime divisors of n, but may also include primes that
dont divide n, then we are allowed to express a (non-unique) prime factorization of n using
all the primes in this list by saying
n = p1 1 p2 2 pmm ,
where 1 , 2 , . . . , m are non-negative integers. The next proposition uses this idea to list
all of the positive divisors of a positive integer.
Proposition 1
where the integers d1 , d2 , . . . , dm 1. We will now prove the conclusion of the given
proposition by proving each direction of the if and only if statement.
1
00
Using a reasoning similar to the one in the proof of UFT, this can only happen when
m k, and (after rearranging, if necessary) q1 = p1 , q2 = p2 , . . . , qm = pm and that
1 d1 1 , 1 d2 2 , . . . , 1 dm m . Hence we have
d = pd11 pd22 pdmm .
Since m k, there may be some primes pm+1 , pm+2 , . . . , pk leftover from the list of prime
factors for n. In that case, we may now include these primes in a prime factorization by
expressing
d = pd11 pd22 pdmm pdkk ,
where dm+1 = dm+2 = = dk = 0. As 1 , 2 , . . . , k 1, we have been able to write
d = pd11 pd22 pdkk where 0 di i for i = 1, 2, . . . , k.
=: Suppose a (non-unique) prime factorization satisfies the condition d = pd11 pd22 pdkk
where 0 di i for i = 1, 2, . . . , k. Then let us define a rational number q such that
q = nd . Using prime factorizations of n and d, we get
q=
p1 1 p2 2 pk k
pd11 pd22
pdkk
(1 d1 ) (2 d2 )
( d )
p2
pk k k .
= p1
( d )
Self Check 1
Example 1
Exercise 1
Using Divisors From Prime Factorization, list all of the positive factors of 45.
Exercise 2
Show that the number of positive divisors of an integer n, whose unique prime factorization
is
n = p1 1 p2 2 pk k ,
is given by (1 + 1)(2 + 1) (k + 1).
Now that we have a method to obtain all the positive divisors of any positive integer using
its prime factorization, we may expect to use this method to calculate the GCD on two
integers a, b N. First, note that given a, b N, since there are infinitely many primes
but only a finite number of prime factors of a and b, we may produce a large enough list of
distinct primes, say p1 , p2 , . . . , pk , that contain all the prime divisors of both a and b. This
provides us with (non-unique) prime factorizations of both a and b, respectively, expressed
in terms of the primes p1 , p2 , . . . , pk as
a = p1 1 p2 2 pk k , and
b = p1 1 p2 2 pk k ,
where 1 , 2 , . . . , k and 1 , 2 , . . . , k are non-negative integers.
Proposition 2
Example 2
Though this method of finding the GCD works well enough on small examples, but for
larger numbers, this method is very slow an inefficient. Nevertheless, it is an important
theoretical tool that can be used to prove other propositions.
Exercise 3
More Examples
1. This question deals with prime factorizations.
(a) Write out the prime factorizations of 12936 and 16380.
(b) Using part (a), determine gcd(12936, 16380).
Solution:
(a)
12936 = 23 31 72 111
16380 = 22 51 32 71 131
(b) gcd(12936, 16380) = 22 31 71 = 84
Problems
1. Prove that if p <= n, then p does not divide n! + 1.
2. Let n >= 0. What is the power of 2 in the prime factorization of (2n )! ? Prove that
you have the correct value.
3. An integer n is perfect if the sum of all of its positive divisors (including 1 and itself)
is 2n.
(a) Is 6 a perfect number? Give reasons for your answer.
4