Exponentiation
Exponentiation is a mathematical operation, written as , involving two numbers, the "base" and the "exponent" . When is a positive integer, exponentiation corresponds to repeated multiplication of the base: that is, is the product of multiplying bases:
Modular exponentiation
The operation of modular exponentiation calculates the remainder when an integer (the base) raised to the th power (the exponent), , is divided by a positive integer (the modulus). In symbols, given base , exponent , and modulus , the modular exponentiation is: . From the definition of , it follows that .