原文开头
the function 5x behaves in predictable ways as we plug in values for x: 52 = 25, 53 = 125, 54 = 625. As we increment x, the output grows by exactly five times. In modular arithmetic, the “wrapping around” adds a chaotic element that’s much harder to understand. Here are the results using mod 17: 52 (mod 17) = 8, 53 (mod 17) = 6, 54 (mod 17) = 13. The outputs seem to bounce around ran- domly with no particular ties to their inputs. …
摘自《科学美国人》(Scientific American)第334卷 第5期 · 2026年5月刊,Sarah Scoles。仅引用开头一小段供了解文章,版权归原刊所有,全文请阅读原刊。