[Math] Solutions of the congruence $x^2 \equiv 1 \pmod{m}$

elementary-number-theorymodular arithmetic

For $m>2$, if a primitive root modulo $m$ exists, prove that the only solutions of the congruence $x^2 \equiv 1 \pmod m$ are $x \equiv 1 \pmod m$ and $x \equiv -1 \pmod m$.

Thanks.

Best Answer

Here is an indirect solution - a solution that doesn't use any specific primitive root. I think a better solution exists, but I would still like to post it because it gives a different perspective.

The solutions $1$ and $m-1$ are obviously always solutions. So the difficulty is proving there aren't any more.

By the primitive root theorem, the possibilities for $m$ are $m=2$, $m=4$, $m=p^k$, or $m=2p^k$ where $p$ is an odd prime and $k\ge 1$.

For $m=2$ we actually have $1=m-1$, and there is a unique square root of $1$.

For $m=4$ you may check directly that the claim holds, just by calculating.

For $m=p^k$, we prove by induction on $k$. For $k=1$ there are no zero divisors, so $(x-1)(x+1)=0$ implies $x-1=0$ or $x+1=0$. For $k>1$, assuming there are exactly two solutions modulo $p^{k-1}$, we use Hensel's lemma to claim that these lift to exactly two solutions modulo $p^k$.

For $m=2p^k$ we use the Chinese remainder theorem to combine the two solutions modulo $p^k$ with the unique solution modulo $2$ to get two solutions modulo $m$.