Elementary Number Theory: An Algebraic Approach

This text uses the concepts usually taught in the first semester of a modern abstract algebra course to illuminate classical number theory: theorems on primitive roots, quadratic Diophantine equations, and the Fermat conjecture for exponents three and four. The text contains abundant numerical examples and a particularly helpful collection of exercises, many of which are small research problems requiring substantial study or outside reading. Some problems call for new proofs for theorems already…