A modular inverse of an integer (modulo
) is the integer
such that
A modular inverse can be computed in the Wolfram Language using ModularInverse[b, m] or PowerMod[b, -1, m].
Every nonzero integer
has an inverse (modulo
)
for
a prime and
not a multiple of
.
For example, the modular inverses of 1, 2, 3, and 4 (mod 5) are 1, 3, 2, and 4.
If
is not prime, then not every nonzero integer
has a modular inverse. In fact, a nonzero integer
has a modular inverse modulo
iff
and
are relatively prime.
For example,
(mod 4) and
(mod 4), but 2 does not have a modular inverse.
The triangle above (OEIS A102057) gives modular inverses of
(mod
)
for
,
2, ...,
and
,
3, .... 0 indicates that no modular inverse exists.
If
and
are relatively prime, there exist integers
and
such that
, and such integers may be found using the Euclidean
algorithm. Considering this equation modulo
, it follows that
; i.e.,
.
If
and
are relatively prime, then Euler's totient theorem
states that
,
where
is the totient function. Hence,
.