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2018 | OriginalPaper | Buchkapitel

1. Simple Quadratic Forms

verfasst von : Jeremy Gray

Erschienen in: A History of Abstract Algebra

Verlag: Springer International Publishing

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Abstract

In this chapter we look at two topics: the question of what numbers, and specifically what primes, can be written in the form x 2 ± ny 2 for small, non-square positive n?, and how to show that the equation x 2 − Ay 2 = 1 has solutions in integers for positive, non-square integers A. Once we have seen what mathematical conclusions we shall need, we look at how to handle the mathematics in a historical way—how to use mathematics as evidence.

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Fußnoten
1
See Oeuvres de Fermat 2, 213, where he notes that the sum is unique. Fermat specifically mentioned the method of infinite descent in connection with this problem.
 
2
These numbers refer to Eneström’s catalogue of Euler’s works; I shall generally refer to Euler’s works by their E number. The catalogue, and almost of all Euler’s work, is available in the invaluable Euler Archive on the web. The Euler–Goldbach correspondence has recently been published as Euler (2015), see letters 47 and 138.
 
3
Here and throughout we use the now-familiar ≡ symbol for congruences. It was first introduced by Gauss, as is explained below in Sect. 4.​3.
 
4
See Euler (2015, letter 115), and the Euler Archive, Correspondence, Goldbach, letter CV of 6 May 1747, OO829.
 
5
See Fermat, Oeuvres 2, 310–314, esp. p. 313; quoted in Cox (1989, 8).
 
6
See Fermat’s letter to Sir Kenelm Digby in 1658, in Fermat Oeuvres, II, 402–408 (in Latin), see p. 405, and Oeuvres, 3, 314–319 (in French) see p. 317. Quoted in Cox (1989, 8).
 
7
See Euler (2015, letter 166) and Lemmermeyer (2007, pp. 531–532).
 
8
See Euler (2015, letter 167).
 
9
A good and thorough reference for this material is Scharlau and Opolka (1984, 43–56).
 
10
They are bound together in the first volume of Euler’s Opera Omnia and in the English translation of Euler’s Algebra published in 1840 and reprinted in 1984.
 
11
See Brahmagupta’s method for ‘Pell’s’ equation on the web: http://​www-history.​mcs.​st-and.​ac.​uk/​HistTopics/​Pell.​html.
 
12
See the discussion in Plofker (2009, 154–156).
 
Literatur
Zurück zum Zitat Cox, D.A.: Primes of the Form x 2 + ny 2. Wiley, New York (1989) Cox, D.A.: Primes of the Form x 2 + ny 2. Wiley, New York (1989)
Zurück zum Zitat Euler, L.: Leonhard Euler. Correspondence. In: Lemmermeyer, F., Mattmüller, M. (eds.) Opera Omnia, (4) A: Commercium Epistolicum, Vol. IV, parts I and II. Birkhäuser, Boston (2015) Euler, L.: Leonhard Euler. Correspondence. In: Lemmermeyer, F., Mattmüller, M. (eds.) Opera Omnia, (4) A: Commercium Epistolicum, Vol. IV, parts I and II. Birkhäuser, Boston (2015)
Zurück zum Zitat Katz, V. (ed.): The Mathematics of Egypt, Mesopotamia, China, India, and Islam: A Sourcebook. Princeton University Press, Princeton (2007)MATH Katz, V. (ed.): The Mathematics of Egypt, Mesopotamia, China, India, and Islam: A Sourcebook. Princeton University Press, Princeton (2007)MATH
Zurück zum Zitat Khinchin, A.Y.: Continued Fractions. University of Chicago Press, Chicago (1964)MATH Khinchin, A.Y.: Continued Fractions. University of Chicago Press, Chicago (1964)MATH
Zurück zum Zitat Lemmermeyer, F.: The development of the principal genus theorem. In: Goldstein, C., Schappacher, N., Schwermer, J. (eds.) The Shaping of Arithmetic After C.F. Gauss’s Disquisitiones Arithmeticae, pp. 529–562, Springer, Berlin (2007) Lemmermeyer, F.: The development of the principal genus theorem. In: Goldstein, C., Schappacher, N., Schwermer, J. (eds.) The Shaping of Arithmetic After C.F. Gauss’s Disquisitiones Arithmeticae, pp. 529–562, Springer, Berlin (2007)
Zurück zum Zitat Plofker, K.: Mathematics in India. Princeton University Press, Princeton (2009)MATH Plofker, K.: Mathematics in India. Princeton University Press, Princeton (2009)MATH
Zurück zum Zitat Scharlau, W., Opolka, H.: From Fermat to Minkowski. Springer, Berlin (1984)MATH Scharlau, W., Opolka, H.: From Fermat to Minkowski. Springer, Berlin (1984)MATH
Zurück zum Zitat Stedall, J.A.: Catching Proteus: The Collaborations of Wallis and Brouncker. I. Squaring the Circle. Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London, vol. 54, pp. 293–316 (2000a, b); and II. Number Problems, ibid 317–331 Stedall, J.A.: Catching Proteus: The Collaborations of Wallis and Brouncker. I. Squaring the Circle. Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London, vol. 54, pp. 293–316 (2000a, b); and II. Number Problems, ibid 317–331
Zurück zum Zitat Weil, A.: Number Theory from Hammurapi to Legendre. Birkhäuser, Boston (1984)MATH Weil, A.: Number Theory from Hammurapi to Legendre. Birkhäuser, Boston (1984)MATH
Metadaten
Titel
Simple Quadratic Forms
verfasst von
Jeremy Gray
Copyright-Jahr
2018
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94773-0_1