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Witness

A witness is a number which, as a result of its number theoretic properties, guarantees either the compositeness or primality of a number $n$. Witnesses are most commonly used in connection with Fermat's Little Theorem Converse. A Pratt Certificate uses witnesses to prove primality, and Miller's Primality Test uses witnesses to prove compositeness.

See also Adleman-Pomerance-Rumely Primality Test, Fermat's Little Theorem Converse, Miller's Primality Test, Pratt Certificate, Primality Certificate




© 1996-9 Eric W. Weisstein
1999-05-26