Intro This problem sheet investigates the possibility of basing cryptographic

methods on unusual quantities found in mathematics. Certainly it is true

that the set of natural numbers N together with addition and multiplication
is an ”algebraic entity” worthy of note, as are the structures Z, R , also
endowed with operations + and x (addition and multiplication.) However
there are many other algebraic structures in maths that might serve us better
if we wish to use such structures as a base on which to build cryptographic
systems. This problem sheet considers some of the traits of such systems
that may make these algebraic systems feasible for use in cryptographic ap-
plications. We also consider how difficult or complex or time-consuming it
is to perform certain types of operations. A problem may in principle be
easy to solve but may not be feasible if the time required is too great. Many
cryptographic schemes are, in principle, easy to solve but remain unbroken
because the time taken to break the schemes is too great. See DES and
AES schemes to appreciate how a secure scheme grows old and reduces to
an insecure scheme.

Problem Sheet for Week 2

Question 1: Consider the following sets together with binary operations.

Are they user-friendly? Z with binary operation

z1 • z2 = z12 − z22

. Is the set closed under the operation? Is the operation commutative ?

Is the operation associative ? Is there an identity? If there is an identity
element then does every element have an inverse relative to the operation •
√
Consider R together with x • y = xy. Ask the same questions as in last
example.
Consider Q together with ab • dc = ab + dc . Ask the same questions as in
last example.

Question 2: One set that is studied a lot in maths and is used a great
deal in applications is M2 (R). There are two standard operations on this set,
called ”matrix addition” and ”matrix multiplication.” Given A, B in M2 (R)
show that (generally) A.B 6= B.A. Is this a user friendly operation ?

Question 3: In Question 2. it was noted that there are two binary op-
erations on the set. These operations can be considered separately or they
can be considered in tandem - in which case we look for some basic ”nice be-
haviour” regarding how the operations interlink (in order to make life easier).

1
For the example in Question 2. Is it true that A.(B + C) = A.B + A.C ? Is it
true that A.B + C.A = A.(B + C) ? Is this algebraic structure user-friendly?

Question 4: Given an natural number N > 0 written as a decimal with k

decimal digits approximate the number of digits in a binary representation
of N . Check your answer in the cases : N = 31, N = 32, N = 55, N = 64,
N = 15243. You might need the fact that

log10 (N )
log2 (N ) =
log10 (2)

and a hand-held calculator with a ”log” function button (base 10).

Question 5: Given the problem of computing GCD(A,B) where A < B

calculate a worst case scenario value for the number of computations required.

Question 6: Given a sequence of non-negative real values calculate the

”Big-O” of the number of ”operations” required to put the sequence in as-
cending order using the BUBBLE SORT algorithm. Make clear what you
mean by the term ”operation”

Question 7: A set consists of N elements S = {S1 , S2 , S3 , ...SN } Suppose

it takes µ seconds to enumerate any given subset of S . Calculate the time
taken to enumerate ALL possible subsets of S. What is the Big-O of the
enumeration? If N = 100 about how long will it take to enumerate the
sybsets? Is this feasible?

Question 8: Suppose a natural number N is a perfect square (of another

natural number M ). Suppose further that these numbers are represented
in binary form where N has K binary digits. Find an iterative scheme to
calculate the square root of N and give a worst-case scenario value for the
number of steps (operations)required.