Ask Your Question

Revision history [back]

There is something wrong with the generator of a finite field

Hi, I am using the sentence" K.<g>=GF(q) " to generate a finite field F_q. When q is a power bigger than 1 of a prime, it is OK. However, when q is a prime, then g turns to be 1. Apparently, 1 is not a generator of a finite field, at least not a generator of the multiplicative group F_{q}^{*}

click to hide/show revision 2
retagged

There is something wrong with the generator of a finite field

Hi, I am using the sentence" K.<g>=GF(q) " to generate a finite field F_q. When q is a power bigger than 1 of a prime, it is OK. However, when q is a prime, then g turns to be 1. Apparently, 1 is not a generator of a finite field, at least not a generator of the multiplicative group F_{q}^{*}