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PROJECT EULER · #0122

Efficient Exponentiation

Statement only · SolvedOriginal problem ↗

The most naive way of computing n15 requires fourteen multiplications: n×n××n=n15.

But using a "binary" method you can compute it in six multiplications:

n×n=n2n2×n2=n4n4×n4=n8n8×n4=n12n12×n2=n14n14×n=n15

However it is yet possible to compute it in only five multiplications:

n×n=n2n2×n=n3n3×n3=n6n6×n6=n12n12×n3=n15

We shall define m(k) to be the minimum number of multiplications to compute nk; for example m(15)=5.

Find k=1200m(k).

Write-up coming later

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