LAST EDITED ON Mar-31-01 AT 01:18 AM (EST)

Steve, many thanks for your note. That statement is just plain wrong.

The congruence a = b (mod m) is equivalent to existence of integer t such that a = b + tm. If m = 1, this is true for any a and b (t being just the difference a - b.)

My apologies. Probably wrote that stupid remark much past midnight.

What is true is that a = b (mod 0) is equivalent to the customary a = b. But this is quite irrelevant in the context of the CRT.

Thank you again,
Alexander Bogomolny