The proof by Andrew Wiles of Fermat’s Last Theorem in 1995 resolved the existence question for non-trivial solutions in integers x,y,zto the equation xn+yn=znfor n>2. There are none. Surprisingly, there are infini...The proof by Andrew Wiles of Fermat’s Last Theorem in 1995 resolved the existence question for non-trivial solutions in integers x,y,zto the equation xn+yn=znfor n>2. There are none. Surprisingly, there are infinitely many solutions if the problem is recast in terms of modular arithmetic. Over a hundred years ago Issai Schur was able to show that for any n there is always a sufficiently large prime p0such that for all primes p≥p0the congruence xn+yn≡zn(modp)has a non-trivial solution. Schur’s argument wasnon-constructive, and there is no systematic method available at present to construct specific examples for small primes. We offer a simple method for constructing all possible solutions to a large class of congruences of this type.展开更多
文摘The proof by Andrew Wiles of Fermat’s Last Theorem in 1995 resolved the existence question for non-trivial solutions in integers x,y,zto the equation xn+yn=znfor n>2. There are none. Surprisingly, there are infinitely many solutions if the problem is recast in terms of modular arithmetic. Over a hundred years ago Issai Schur was able to show that for any n there is always a sufficiently large prime p0such that for all primes p≥p0the congruence xn+yn≡zn(modp)has a non-trivial solution. Schur’s argument wasnon-constructive, and there is no systematic method available at present to construct specific examples for small primes. We offer a simple method for constructing all possible solutions to a large class of congruences of this type.
