Multiplication Tables Modulo N

Exact convex geometry of the residue classes

About

This site collects work on the convex geometry of multiplication tables modulo N. For a modulus N and a residue a, the lattice points (x, y) in {1, …, N−1}² with xy ≡ a (mod N) form a finite planar set. The areas, boundaries, and vertices of the convex hulls of these sets turn out to be governed exactly by the divisors of a and of N−a. These notes make that structure precise and compute it exactly.

The arguments are elementary, and every construction is checked directly against brute-force computation. The first note is available below; a second is in preparation.

First note

Exact Zero-Class Geometry and Boundary Growth in Multiplication Tables Modulo N

This note studies multiplication tables modulo N through the convex hulls of their residue classes. It introduces the residue-wise area invariant and analyzes two exact structures inside the table. In the zero class, divisor rectangles give a complete convex-hull description, a divisor-chain boundary, and an exact area formula. At the first boundary — the outer frame of the table — a residue-wise four-point geometry gives an explicit lower model for the total area. Together these place exact zero-divisor geometry and cubic-order area growth in a single convex-hull framework.

Zero-Class and Boundary Growth (PDF)

Second note In preparation

A second note, on the convex hulls of modular hyperbolas, gives an exact finite construction of the hull vertices for every nonzero residue, with no coprimality assumption, together with a vertex-count identity that recovers and localizes the classical divisor bound. It will be made available here once it has been publicly posted.