On Mon, Feb 20, 2012 at 10:43 AM, Ken Ribet <[email protected]> wrote: > I'll add here is that sage, when asked to find gcd(Mod(5,6),5), will > just echo back 5. Of course it then gives the same answer when asked > to find gcd(Mod(11,6),5). In number theory courses, students are told > that these quantities don't make any sense.
I think the optimal answer for gcd(Mod(5,6), 5) would be Mod(1,6), and the optimal answer for gcd(Mod(11,6), 5) would also be Mod(1,6). In each case, one applies the canonical coercion map to Z/6Z, then chooses the smallest representative generator of the ideal generated by Mod(5,6) and Mod(5,6). > > Ken > > -- > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected] > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/sage-support > URL: http://www.sagemath.org -- William Stein Professor of Mathematics University of Washington http://wstein.org -- To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/sage-support URL: http://www.sagemath.org
