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Pierre de Fermat (French: [pjɛʁ də fɛʁma]; [a] 17 August 1601 – 12 January 1665) was a French mathematician who is given credit for early developments that led to infinitesimal calculus, including his technique of adequality.
For illustration, let n be factored into d and e, n = de. The general equation a n + b n = c n. implies that (a d, b d, c d) is a solution for the exponent e (a d) e + (b d) e = (c d) e. Thus, to prove that Fermat's equation has no solutions for n > 2, it would suffice to prove that it has no solutions for at least one prime factor of every n.
The problem arose again around 1654 when Chevalier de Méré posed it to Blaise Pascal. Pascal discussed the problem in his ongoing correspondence with Pierre de Fermat. Through this discussion, Pascal and Fermat not only provided a convincing, self-consistent solution to this problem, but also developed concepts that are still fundamental to ...
In mathematics, a Fermat number, named after Pierre de Fermat (1607–1665), the first known to have studied them, is a positive integer of the form: = +, where n is a non-negative integer.
Fermat's factorization method, named after Pierre de Fermat, is based on the representation of an odd integer as the difference of two squares: N = a 2 − b 2 . {\displaystyle N=a^{2}-b^{2}.} That difference is algebraically factorable as ( a + b ) ( a − b ) {\displaystyle (a+b)(a-b)} ; if neither factor equals one, it is a proper ...
Adequality is a technique developed by Pierre de Fermat in his treatise Methodus ad disquirendam maximam et minimam [1] (a Latin treatise circulated in France c. 1636 ) to calculate maxima and minima of functions, tangents to curves, area, center of mass, least action, and other problems in calculus.
De Witte's treatment is more original than that description might suggest, although limited to two dimensions; it uses calculus of variations to show that Huygens' construction and Fermat's principle lead to the same differential equation for the ray path, and that in the case of Fermat's principle, the converse holds. De Witte also noted that ...
This is a list of things named after Pierre de Fermat, a French amateur mathematician. This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items.