Polynomial factoring has famous practical algorithms over fields-- finite, rational \& $p$-adic. However, modulo prime powers it gets hard as there is non-unique factorization and a combinatorial blowup ensues. For example, $x^2+p \bmod p^2$ is irreducible, but $x^2+px \bmod p^2$ has exponentially many factors! We present the first randomized poly($\deg ... more >>>

Finding an irreducible factor, of a polynomial $f(x)$ modulo a prime $p$, is not known to be in deterministic polynomial time. Though there is such a classical algorithm that {\em counts} the number of irreducible factors of $f\bmod p$. We can ask the same question modulo prime-powers $p^k$. The irreducible ... more >>>