| There are many surprising connections between the theory of numbers, which is one of the oldest branches of mathematics, and computing and information theory. Number theory has important applications in computer organization and security, coding and cryptography, random number generation, hash functions, and graphics. Conversely, number theorists use computers in factoring large integers, determining primes, testing conjectures, and solving other problems. This book takes the reader from elementary number theory, via algorithmic number theory, to applied number theory in computer science. It introduces basic concepts, results, and methods, and discusses their applications in the design of hardware and software, cryptography, and security. It is aimed at undergraduates in computing and information technology, but will also be valuable to mathematics students interested in applications. In this 2nd edition full proofs of many theorems are added and some corrections are made.
Modern cryptography depends heavily on number theory, with primality testing, factoring, discrete logarithms (indices), and elliptic curves being perhaps the most prominent subject. areas . Since my own graduate study had emphasized probability theory, statistics, and real analysis, when I started working in cryptography around 1970, I found myself swimming in an unknown, murky sea. I thus know from personal experience how inaccessible number theory can be to the uninitiated . Thank you for your efforts to ease the transition for a new generation of cryptographers . |
