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Call an element $x\in R$ of a ring nilpotent if $x^m=0$ for some $m\in\mathbb{Z}^+$.

If $a\in\mathbb{Z}$ is an integer, show that the element $\overline{a}\in\mathbb{Z}/n\mathbb{Z}$ is nilpotent if and only if every prime divisor of $n$ is a divisor of $a$.

Here's my attempt at a proof. If $\overline{a}\in\mathbb{Z}/n\mathbb{Z}$, and there is a $m\in\mathbb{Z}^+$ so that $\overline{a}^m=\overline{a^m}=\overline{0}$. Then $a^m\equiv 0\mod n$ , and so there is a $k\in\mathbb{Z}$ with $a^m=kn$. Now suppose $p$ is a prime divisor of $n$, so that $n=lp$ for some $l\in\mathbb{Z}$. Then $a^m=(kl)p$, so $p$ divides $a^m$. By Euclid's lemma, $p$ must then divide $a$.

Conversely, suppose every prime divisor $p$ of $n$ divides $a$. Then $n=kp$ and $a=lp$. Fix $m\in\mathbb{Z}$, and take $a^m=l^mp^m$, and since $p=n/k$ we have $a^m=(l^m n^{m-1}/k^m)n$, so that $a^m\equiv 0\mod n$. I have a strong suspicion that my proof of this direction is flawed, because it seems to imply that every $m\in\mathbb{Z}$ has $a^m\equiv 0\mod n$. Are there any ways I can remedy this, and is the other direction fine?

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    Well, what makes you think $(l^mn^{m-1}/k^m)$ is an integer? The power you must take $a$ to to ensure $a^m\equiv0$ mod $n$ depends on the exponents in the prime factorizations of $a$ and $n$. – anon Mar 29 '21 at 04:32
  • Good point! Are there any restrictions on $m$ that I can make so that it is? –  Mar 29 '21 at 04:35
  • Well, suppose $a=\prod p^{u_p}$ and $n=\prod p^{v_p}$. Can you go from there? – anon Mar 29 '21 at 04:37
  • I'm not sure where this comes from. Could I have a reference? –  Mar 29 '21 at 04:40
  • Where what comes from? Do you mean the fact that we can factor numbers as products of prime powers? That's called the fundamental theorem of arithmetic, and should be taught well before students are exposed to the word "nilpotent." – anon Mar 29 '21 at 04:41
  • Oh no I'm aware of the fundamental theorem of arithmetic but I still don't see what $m$ I should choose. Sorry if this is frustrating. –  Mar 29 '21 at 04:48
  • Well, if we factor $a=\prod p^{u_p}$, then $a^m=\prod p^{mu_p}$. In order for this to be divisible by $n=\prod p^{v_p}$, what can you say about the exponents $mu_p$ in relation to the exponents $v_p$? – anon Mar 29 '21 at 04:49
  • Maybe that $u_p$ divides $v_p$? –  Mar 29 '21 at 04:52
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    Nope. Does $7^2\mid 7^3$ imply $2$ divides $3$? – anon Mar 29 '21 at 04:58
  • I'm really not sure then. This must be so goddamn obvious. –  Mar 29 '21 at 05:12
  • Let me ask you this. Does $17^{10}\cdot23^5\cdot29^6$ divide $17^{12}\cdot23^4\cdot29^{10}$? Can you determine this without multiplying out huge numbers and doing long division, but instead simply comparing the exponents? How do you compare the exponents to determine if the first divides the second? – anon Mar 29 '21 at 05:14
  • "This must be so goddamn obvious. " Okay. Does $7^2|7^3$? Why or why not? And does 13^{9}|13^5$? Why or why not? – fleablood Mar 29 '21 at 16:22
  • Suppose $n= 2^3\cdot 5^2\cdot 7\cdot 11^4$. And $a = 2^4\cdot 3^2 \cdot 5\cdot 7^3\cdot 11$. And we want to find an $m$ so that $n|a^m$ that is so that $(2^3\cdot 5^2\cdot 7\cdot 11^4)|(2^4\cdot 3^2 \cdot 5\cdot 7^3\cdot 11)^m$. How would we do that? – fleablood Mar 29 '21 at 16:25

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Let us present an organised argument for this otherwise elementary statement. Let us write $\mathbb{P}$ for the set of all strictly positive prime integers (in other words, the set of nonzero prime natural numbers) and for arbitrary integer $n \in \mathbb{Z}$ let us define $\Pi(n)\colon =\{p \in \mathbb{P} \mid p \mid n\}$ to be the set of all natural prime divisors of $n$. It is an elementary exercise to establish the fact that the relations $m \mid n \Rightarrow \Pi(m) \subseteq \Pi(n)$ respectively $\Pi(mn)=\Pi(m) \cup \Pi(n)$ take place for arbitrary integers $m, n \in \mathbb{Z}$. Note that the latter property can be expressed by saying that the map $\Pi \colon \mathbb{Z} \to \mathscr{P}\left(\mathbb{P}\right)$ is a morphism between the monoids $(\mathbb{Z}, \cdot)$ and $\left(\mathscr{P}(\mathbb{P}), \cup\right)$.

Furthermore, for fixed $p \in \mathbb{P}$ let us introduce the map: \begin{align} &v_p \colon \mathbb{Z}^{\times}(=\mathbb{Z}\setminus\{0\}) \to \mathbb{N} \\ &v_p(n)\colon =\max\left\{k \in \mathbb{N} \mid p^k \mid n\right\} \end{align} and remark that $v_p(mn)=v_p(m)+v_p(n)$ for any two nonzero integers $m, n \in \mathbb{Z}^{\times}$ (in other words, $v_p$ is a morphism between the monoids $\left(\mathbb{Z}^{\times}, \cdot\right)$ and $(\mathbb{N}, +)$).

Let us also recall the fundamental theorem of arithmetic under the formulation that for every $n \in \mathbb{Z}^{\times}$ one has the relation $n=\mathrm{sgn}(n)\displaystyle\prod_{p \in \mathbb{P}}p^{v_p(n)}=\mathrm{sgn}(n)\displaystyle\prod_{p \in \Pi(n)}p^{v_p(n)}$, where $\mathrm{sgn} \colon \mathbb{Z} \to \{-1, 0, 1\}$ is the sign function of the totally ordered ring $\mathbb{Z}$. We also point out the important relation $m \mid n \Leftrightarrow (\forall p)\left(p \in \mathbb{P} \Rightarrow v_p(m) \leqslant v_p(n)\right)$, valid for arbitrary nonzero integers $m, n \in \mathbb{Z}^{\times}$.

Consider now a fixed natural number $n \in \mathbb{N}$ and write for simplicity $\mathbb{Z}_n\colon =\mathbb{Z}/n\mathbb{Z}$. Furthermore, for arbitrary integer $m \in \mathbb{Z}$ let us denote the residue class of $m$ modulo $n$ by $\overline{m}$. Assuming that $m \in \mathbb{Z}$ is such that $\overline{m} \in \mathrm{Nil}\left(\mathbb{Z}_n\right)$ we infer the existence of $k \in \mathbb{N}^{\times}$ such that $\overline{m}^k=\overline{m^k}=\overline{0}$. This entails $n \mid m^k$ and by virtue of the relations mentioned in the previous paragraph entails $\Pi(n) \subseteq \Pi\left(m^k\right)=\Pi(m)$ (the fact that $k\neq 0$ is required to make the latter relation of equality valid).

Conversely, assuming that the integer $m \in \mathbb{Z}$ satisfies the relation $\Pi(n) \subseteq \Pi(m)$ we infer that $p \mid m$ for each $p \in \Pi(n)$ and since two distinct primes are mutually prime we infer from an elementary proposition in arithmetic that $r\colon=\displaystyle\prod_{p \in \Pi(n)} p \mid m$. If $\Pi(n)=\varnothing$ we infer - in conjunction with $n \in \mathbb{N}$ - that $n=1$ and thus $\mathbb{Z}_1=\left\{\overline{0}\right\}$ is a null ring, all of its elements - $\overline{m}$ in particular - thus being nilpotent. If on the other hand $\Pi(n) \neq\ \varnothing$, since nonempty totally ordered sets have maxima we can in particular consider $h=\displaystyle\max_{p \in \Pi(n)}v_p(n)$. Since in general $p \in \Pi(m) \Leftrightarrow v_p(m)>0$ for any prime $p \in \mathbb{P}$ and integer $m \in \mathbb{Z}$, we ascertain that $h>0$. Since by construction $v_p(n) \leqslant h=v_p\left(r^h\right)$ is valid for each $p \in \Pi(n)$ (and therefore automatically for any $p \in \mathbb{P}$), it follows that $n \mid r^h \mid m^h$, which signifies that $\overline{m^h}=\overline{m}^h=\overline{0}$. As $h>0$, we conclude that $\overline{m} \in \mathrm{Nil}\left(\mathbb{Z}_n\right)$.

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