Modular exponentiation

Calculate a^b mod m — the remainder when a^b is divided by m. Uses fast exponentiation.

Base (a) Exponent (b) Mod (m)

What is modular exponentiation?

a^b mod m computes the remainder when a^b is divided by m. 2^10 mod 1000 = 1024 mod 1000 = 24.

Why is it important?

RSA cryptography computes things like 65537^d mod n with numbers hundreds of digits long. Direct computation would be impossibly large, but modular exponentiation uses repeated squaring to stay manageable.

Fast algorithm

Binary exponentiation: square-and-multiply, taking mod at each step. Computes a^b mod m in O(log b) multiplications instead of b multiplications.

Popular exponent problems
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