Fermat-Euler theorem in algebraic number fields (Q1126373)

Let \(R\) be a finite commutative ring. The authors use the technique of idempotents in \(R\) to establish a generalization of the theorems of Fermat and Euler by determining minimal positive integers \(\nu\) and \(\mu\) such that for all \(x\in R\) one has \(x^{\mu+\nu}=x^\nu\). Their results are made more transparent in the case when \(R\) is a principal ideal ring. Several examples are given, including factor rings of \(\mathbb{Z}\) and the rings of integers of quadratic number fields and more generally of Dedekind domains with the finite norm property.