** The function ''lift_x(x)'', where ''x'' is an integer in range ''0..p-1'', returns the point ''P'' for which ''x(P) = x'' and ''has_square_y(P)'', or fails if no such point exists<ref>Given a candidate X coordinate ''x'' in the range ''0..p-1'', there exist either exactly two or exactly zero valid Y coordinates. If no valid Y coordinate exists, then ''x'' is not a valid X coordinate either, i.e., no point ''P'' exists for which ''x(P) = x''. Given a candidate ''x'', the valid Y coordinates are the square roots of ''c = x<sup>3</sup> + 7 mod p'' and they can be computed as ''y = ±c<sup>(p+1)/4</sup> mod p'' (see [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadratic_residue#Prime_or_prime_power_modulus Quadratic residue]) if they exist, which can be checked by squaring and comparing with ''c''. Due to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euler%27s_criterion Euler's criterion] it then holds that ''c<sup>(p-1)/2</sup> = 1 mod p''. The same criterion applied to ''y'' results in ''y<sup>(p-1)/2</sup> mod p = ±c<sup>((p+1)/4)((p-1)/2)</sup> mod p = ±1 mod p''. Therefore ''y = +c<sup>(p+1)/4</sup> mod p'' is a quadratic residue and ''-y mod p'' is not.</ref>. The function ''lift_x(x)'' is equivalent to the following pseudocode:
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