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Extended Euclidean algorithm
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==Simplification of fractions== A fraction {{math|{{sfrac|''a''|''b''}}}} is in canonical simplified form if {{math|''a''}} and {{math|''b''}} are [[coprime]] and {{math|''b''}} is positive. This canonical simplified form can be obtained by replacing the three output lines of the preceding pseudo code by '''if''' {{math|1=''s'' = 0}} '''then output''' "Division by zero" '''if''' {{math|1=''s'' < 0}} '''then''' {{math|1=''s'' := β''s''}}; {{math|1=''t'' := β''t''}} (''for avoiding negative denominators'') '''if''' {{math|1=''s'' = 1}} '''then output''' {{math|β''t''}} (''for avoiding denominators equal to'' 1) '''output''' {{math|{{sfrac|β''t''|''s''}}}} The proof of this algorithm relies on the fact that {{math|''s''}} and {{math|''t''}} are two coprime integers such that {{math|1=''as'' + ''bt'' = 0}}, and thus <math>\frac{a}{b} = -\frac{t}{s}</math>. To get the canonical simplified form, it suffices to move the minus sign for having a positive denominator. If {{math|''b''}} divides {{math|''a''}} evenly, the algorithm executes only one iteration, and we have {{math|1=''s'' = 1}} at the end of the algorithm. It is the only case where the output is an integer.
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