Number theory MOC

Fundamental theorem of arithmetic

The fundamental theorem of arithmetic is a consequence of Euclid's lemma which states that for any natural number there exists a unique prime factorisation when the factors are ordered by magnitude. #m/thm/num That is, for any integer there exists one and only one finite, increasing sequence of primes such that .

Proof sketch

The proof proceeds as follows: First, generalise Euclid's lemma to finite products. We can then show that given any two sequences of primes factorising some integer , any element of one must be an element of the other.

More generally, a ring in which this holds is called a Unique factorization domain.


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