Fermat's factorization method: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 03:06, 15 March 2022

Revision as of 16:27, 15 March 2022

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'''Fermat's [[Integer factorization|factorization]] method''', named after [[Pierre de Fermat]], is based on the representation of an [[even and odd numbers|odd]] [[integer]] as the [[difference of two squares]]:

:<math>N = a^2 - b^2.</math>

That difference is [[algebra]]ically factorable as <math>(a+b)(a-b)</math>; if neither factor equals one, it is a proper factorization of ''N''.