how is "s" kept as an integer in ECDSA?

[Anonymous Kid]

from wikipedia

G is a basepoint on a curve.
Alice picks a key; d_{A} and a corresponding pub key; Q_{A} = d_{A} * G

Calculate e = HASH(m), where HASH is a cryptographic hash function, such as SHA-2.
Let z be the L_{n} leftmost bits of e, where L_{n} is the bit length of the group order n.
Select a cryptographically secure random integer k from [1,n-1].
Calculate the curve point (x_1, y_1) = k * G.
Calculate r = x_1 mod n. If r = 0, go back to step 3.
Calculate  s=k^-1(z+rd_{A}) mod n. If s=0, go back to step 3.
The signature is the pair (r,s).

But how can s be an integer since k^-1 will yield a decimal amount (e.g. 123.12347)?

[1715479464]

1715479464

[1715479464]

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[1715479464]

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[1715479464]

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[Anonymous Kid]

Oh wait. I just realised that all integers belong to a finite integer field of [1, n-1].

So you have to do finite field math or whatever its called.

The tricky one is division; that is not division on the field of integers followed by a modulus operation. Instead, it involves finding the multiplicative inverse of a number; that is, given b, we find the field member b^−1 such that b×b^−1=1. Then, a/b=a×b^−1

so thats how k^-1 is calculated. someone please correct me if im wrong... or tell me if im right lol. im still not sure if thats correct

[achow101]

The integer operations are modulo n. So yes, the inverse of an integer a mod n is a number b = a^-1 mod n such that a * b = 1 mod n.

There are efficient algorithms for finding such an inverse which is why ECDSA (and other cryptosystems) can use inverses modulo n.