Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 October 2008
Let p ≡ 1 (mod 3) or ≡ 1 (mod 5) be a rational prime and g a primitive root mod p. The non-zero residues g, g2,…,gp−1 (mod p) can then be divided into 3 or 5 classes ,
,
, or
,
,
,
,
respectively, by letting gν ∈
,
,
(respectively
,
,
,
,
) according as ν ≡ 0, 1, 2, (mod 3) (respectively 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 (mod 5)). Problems regarding the distribution of 1, 2, …, p − 1 amongst the 3 (respectively 5) classes are many. In this paper we consider the following problem in some detail (we shall state it here for the case p ≡ 1 (mod 3)). Let α, β, γ be typical members of
,
,
respectively. Let the number of solutions of the congruences
be