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As shown below, his proof is equivalent to demonstrating that the equation x 4 − y 4 = z 2. has no primitive solutions in integers (no pairwise coprime solutions). In turn, this is sufficient to prove Fermat's Last Theorem for the case n = 4, since the equation a 4 + b 4 = c 4 can be written as c 4 − b 4 = (a 2) 2.
In other words, it was necessary to prove only that the equation a n + b n = c n has no positive integer solutions (a, b, c) when n is an odd prime number. This follows because a solution (a, b, c) for a given n is equivalent to a solution for all the factors of n. For illustration, let n be factored into d and e, n = de. The general equation a ...
The conjecture is that there is a simple way to tell whether such equations have a finite or infinite number of rational solutions. More specifically, the Millennium Prize version of the conjecture is that, if the elliptic curve E has rank r , then the L -function L ( E , s ) associated with it vanishes to order r at s = 1 .
In mathematics, a proof by infinite descent, also known as Fermat's method of descent, is a particular kind of proof by contradiction [1] used to show that a statement cannot possibly hold for any number, by showing that if the statement were to hold for a number, then the same would be true for a smaller number, leading to an infinite descent and ultimately a contradiction. [2]
Many mathematical problems have been stated but not yet solved. These problems come from many areas of mathematics, such as theoretical physics, computer science, algebra, analysis, combinatorics, algebraic, differential, discrete and Euclidean geometries, graph theory, group theory, model theory, number theory, set theory, Ramsey theory, dynamical systems, and partial differential equations.
In the polynomial + the only possible rational roots would have a numerator that divides 6 and a denominator that divides 1, limiting the possibilities to ±1, ±2, ±3, and ±6. Of these, 1, 2, and –3 equate the polynomial to zero, and hence are its rational roots (in fact these are its only roots since a cubic polynomial has only three roots).
Therefore, the solution = is extraneous and not valid, and the original equation has no solution. For this specific example, it could be recognized that (for the value x = − 2 {\displaystyle x=-2} ), the operation of multiplying by ( x − 2 ) ( x + 2 ) {\displaystyle (x-2)(x+2)} would be a multiplication by zero.
In general, a system with fewer equations than unknowns has infinitely many solutions, but it may have no solution. Such a system is known as an underdetermined system. In general, a system with the same number of equations and unknowns has a single unique solution. In general, a system with more equations than unknowns has no solution.