Periodic positional fractions and elementary number theory
Let \(\alpha=\frac bc\in \mathbb Q\) with \(0<\alpha<1\) and \(\alpha =\sum_ {i=1}^ \infty a_i g^{-i}\) denotes its \(g\)-ary digital expansion. The author considers the periodic behaviour of the expansion of \(\alpha\) using only elementary number-theoretic theorems like Fermat's Little Theorem and the Chinese Remainder Theorem. For instance he proves: Write \(c=c'a\), where \(c'>1\), \(\gcd(c',g)=1\), with \(a\) having only prime factors of \(g\). Denote by \(t\) and \(s\) the least nonnegative rational integers with \({a\mid g^t}\) and \({c'\mid (g^s-1)}\), respectively. Then the \(g\)-ary expansion of \(\alpha\) has preperiod length \(t\) and period length \(s\). Nice examples (take \(\frac 17\) or \(\frac {1}{11}\)) are given for the final theorem: Let \(\alpha=\frac bc\) a reduced fraction with \(\gcd(b,g)=1\), then the periods of the fraction \(\frac {b'}{c}\) for \(b\sim b'\) by cyclic substitution of the period of \(\frac bc\). The article is meant for junior high school students but could also be used by teachers as an instructive example of elementary number theory.
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