Section 4. Primality testing.

Here I only remark that the modern study of primality testing really begins with the trail blaising work of Lucas, via Fermat's little theorem, and I urge any serious reader to rush to their bookdealer and obtain a copy of the wonderful book by Hugh C. Williams (details in the Section 8 bibliography).

I have briefly hinted at the sort of use that can be made of Fermat's little theorem to establish that a number is composite , but a great deal more is involved in using it as a starting point in proving that a number is prime .

I refer the interested reader to my web site, where I have many Maple worksheets - in the 2nd and 3rd year, and Public and Other Lectures sections of my site's Maple section - devoted to primality testing.