Finding the trace of the inverse of a 2x2 matrix in (mod 26)

Woolyabyss
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Homework Statement


...(2 , 3)
A =
...(1 , 3)

Find the trace of A^(-1)

Homework Equations


(a , b)......(d , -b)
...^(-1) = (ad-bc)^(-1)*
(c , d).......(-c, a)

The Attempt at a Solution


.....(3 , -3)
A^-1 = 9*
.....(-1. 2)

(In mod 26)

... (1, -1)
=
... (-9, 18)

Trace of A^(-1) = 1 + 18 = 19The solution I was given said the trace is 18 but I can't seem to find where I went wrong.
Any help would be appreciated.
(Also sorry about the horrible way I wrote the matrices)
 
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I don't see any issue with what you have. You can verify that your solution is the inverse, so it may be that the solution is off.
 
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There are two things I don't understand about this problem. First, when finding the nth root of a number, there should in theory be n solutions. However, the formula produces n+1 roots. Here is how. The first root is simply ##\left(r\right)^{\left(\frac{1}{n}\right)}##. Then you multiply this first root by n additional expressions given by the formula, as you go through k=0,1,...n-1. So you end up with n+1 roots, which cannot be correct. Let me illustrate what I mean. For this...
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