| | Quadratic sieve - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
 | | The algorithm attempts to set up a congruence of squares modulo n (the integer to be factorized), which often leads to a factorization of n. |
| | The algorithm works in two phases: the data collection phase, where it collects information that may lead to a congruence of squares; and the data processing phase, where it puts all the data it has collected into a matrix and solves it to obtain a congruence of squares. |
| | The naïve approach to finding a congruence of squares is to pick a random number, square it, and hope the least non-negative remainder modulo n is a perfect square (in the integers). |
| en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Quadratic_sieve (2116 words) |
