Showing posts with label number theory. Show all posts
Showing posts with label number theory. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Euclid's Algorithm for finding greatest common divisor

The Euclidean algorithm is a very efficient method to find the greatest common divisor (GCD) for a pair of integers. The algorithm is based on the principle that the GCD for a pair does not change if the smaller number is subtracted from the bigger number.

Given interger \(a\) and \(b\) (assume \(a\geq b\)), the algorithm can be recursively define as:
\[gcd(a,0)=a\]
\[gcd(a,b)=gcd(b, a\: mod\: b)\]

Reference: Wiki page on Euclidean Algorithm.