Modular Exponentiation
Modular exponentiation is a fundamental operation in number theory and cryptography. It involves calculating the remainder when an integer, raised to a positive integer power, is divided by another positive integer, known as the modulus. Mathematically, if we have three integers $a$, $b$, and $m$, where $a$ is the base, $b$ is the exponent, and $m$ is the modulus, then modular exponentiation computes: $$a^b \pmod{m}$$ The straightforward approach to calculate this involves computing $a^b$ first and the finding the modulo $m$, which can become impractical for large numbers. However, by exploiting modular arithmetic properties, we can perform the calculation more efficiently. One common algorithm for modular exponentiation is the binary exponentiation method, also known as exponentiation by squaring. This algorithm reduces the number of multiplications required to compute the result. Here's how the binary exponentiation algorithm works: Start with the result $r$ initialized to 1. I