Definitive source about Dirichlet finally proving the Unit Theorem in the Sistine Chapel - MathOverflow

Definitive source about Dirichlet finally proving the Unit Theorem in the Sistine Chapel

2012-09-02T19:22:33Z

(This question was posted on math.stackexchange a week ago at http://math.stackexchange.com/questions/187315/definitive-source-about-dirichlet-finally-proving-the-unit-theorem-in-the-sistinbut and still has received no answers there, so I hope it's okay to post it here too.)

In a few books or survey articles (e.g., page 49 of Helmut Koch's "Number Theory: Algebraic Numbers and Algebraic Functions") it is said that Dirichlet figured out a proof of the unit theorem while listening to an Easter concert in the Sistine Chapel. My question is: what is the evidence for this story?

From an internet search I found that Kummer wrote on p. 343 of volume 2 of Dirichlet's collected works that Dirichlet could work on math in all kinds of situations, and then Kummer says "Als Beispiel hierfür kann ich anführen, dass er die Lösung eines schwierigen Problems der Zahlentheorie, womit er sich längere Zeit vergeblich bemüht hatte, in der Sixtinischen Kapelle in Rom ergründet hat, während des Anhörens der Ostermusik, die in derselben aufgeführt zu werden pflegt" (translation: "As an example I can say that he found the solution to a difficult problem in number theory, which he had worked on for a considerable amount of time without success, in the Sistine Chapel in Rome while he was listening to the Easter music that tends to be played there.")

Notice Kummer does not say precisely what the "difficult problem" was. Maybe it is just an oral tradition that the problem is the unit theorem, but I would like a more definitive source.

I don't read German well, but if you do then Kummer's essay on Dirichlet can be read online. It starts on http://archive.org/stream/glejeunedirichl00dirigoog#page/n323/mode/1up and page 343 is http://archive.org/stream/glejeunedirichl00dirigoog#page/n355/mode/1up.

Answer by Carlo Beenakker for Definitive source about Dirichlet finally proving the Unit Theorem in the Sistine Chapel

2012-09-02T21:47:29Z

Kummer's remark is from his 1860 obituary of Dirichlet, so it is an early source; a recent reference that identifies the unit theorem is page 472 of "Geschichte der Universität Unter den Linden, 1810-2010: Genese der Disziplinin : die Konstitution der Universität". I made a screen shot of the text. A reference is given to Dedekind 1871. This text is online and searchable; I did not find any mention of the story there.

Franz von Krbek describes what seems to be a different story on page 11 of his 1964 book "Über Zahlen und Überzahlen", which he attributes to Frigyes [Friedrich] Riesz, stating that Dirichlet discovered his pigeonhole principle during the Easter mass in the Sixtine Chapel: Professor Dirichlet aus Berlin 1843 gerade während der Ostermesse in der sixtinischen Kapelle in Rom die Tragweite des Schufächerprinzips in der Zahlentheorie erkannte. He also writes that he attempted to find evidence for this story in Mrs. Dirichlet's correspondence to her sister, without success.

Krbek expresses doubt about the reliability of Riesz's statement, which might just be another interpretation of Kummer's 1860 remark. That seems to be the earliest source, subject to various interpretations on what the problem might have been.

For the record, here is the full quote from Krbek, with translation:

In der Antrittsrede des ungarischen Mathematikers Friedrich Riesz in Szeged aus dem Jahr 1925 heisst es, dass der Professor Dirichlet aus Berlin 1843 während der Ostermesse in der sixtinischen Kapelle in Rom die Tragweite des Schubfächerprinzips in der Zahlentheorie erkannte. Woher Riesz das hat, weiss ich nicht. In den ausführlichen Briefen der Frau Dirichlet an die Schwester steht lediglich, dass, sobald die Kirchenmusik aussetzte, ein störendes Hustenkonzert einsetzte.

In the inaugural lecture of the Hungarian mathematician Friedrich Riesz in Szeged from the year 1925 it is written, that Professor Dirichlet from Berlin realized, during the 1843 Easter mass in the Sistine chapel in Rom, the range [of applicability] of the pigeonhole principle in number theory. I do not know from where Riesz got this. In the extensive correspondence of Mrs. Dirichlet to her sister it only says that, after the church music stopped, an annoying coughing concert started.

Answer by Igor Rivin for Definitive source about Dirichlet finally proving the Unit Theorem in the Sistine Chapel

2012-09-03T02:58:42Z

Just a quick remark: a couple of sources cite Minkowski's 1905 Jahrsberichte essay on Dirichlet. I don't have access to the text, so don't know if he just copies the claim from Kummer.