Development of Number Theory and the Application in Cryptography

Abstract

The primary focus of number theory, one of the fields of fundamental mathematics, is on the characteristics of integers. The development of cryptography also benefited greatly from the contributions of number theory. The paper primarily examines the evolution of number theory and its use in cryptography using a method of literature review. The study discovers that number theory development in the East reached a prosperous phase in the 1930s. From the 15th and 16th centuries through the 19th century, number theory flourished in the first. Number theory is still being developed, as demonstrated by the discovery of the biggest known prime number by American mathematician Curtis Cooper. Numerology is also extensively employed in cryptography, including the RSA technique and digital signatures. Numerous algorithms used in cryptography mostly depend on a working understanding of number theory.