On the least odd quadratic non-residue (Q375914)

For a prime \(p>3\) let \(\nu_p\) be the least positive integer that is not a square modulo \(p\). It is well-known that \(\nu_p<\sqrt{p}\) for \(p>131\). Using only elementary methods the authors show that \(\sqrt{p}\) can be replaced by \(\sqrt{p-33}\). Reviewer's remark. \textit{Enrique Trevino} [Numerically explicit estimates for character sums. Thesis (Ph.D.), Dartmouth College 155 p. (2011), ISBN: 978-1267-15728-7, ProQuest LLC] recently established the much stronger result that \(\nu_p<1.1 p^{1/4} \log p\) for every \(p>3\).