Fermat's Last Theorem: Difference between revisions
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==See Also== | ==See Also== | ||
* [[Number Theory]] | * [[Number Theory]] | ||
** [[Diophantine | ** [[Diophantine Equation]]s | ||
Revision as of 17:49, 24 June 2006
Fermat's Last Theorem is a long-unproved theorem stating that for integers 
with 
, there are no solutions to the equation: 
History
Fermat's last theorem was proposed by Pierre Fermat in the margin of his book Arithmetica. The note in the margin (when translated) read: "It is impossible for a cube to be the sum of two cubes, a fourth power to be the sum of two fourth powers, or in general for any number that is a power greater than the second to be the sum of two like powers. I have discovered a truly marvelous demonstration of this proposition that this margin is too narrow to contain." Despite Fermat's claim that a simple proof existed, the theorem wasn't proven until Andrew Wiles did so in 1993. Interestingly enough, Wiles's proof was much more complicated than anything Fermat could have produced himself.
