Equivalence of Pepin’s and the Lucas-Lehmer tests

Abstract

Pepin’s test provides a necessary and sufficient condition for a Fermat number to be prime. The Lucas-Lehmer test does similarly for a Mersenne number. These tests share a common nature. However, this is evident neither by their usual statements nor their usual treatment in the literature. Furthermore, it is unusual to even find a proof of the latter result in elementary textbooks. The intent of this paper is to bring to light the equivalent structure of these two primality tests.