Questions tagged [sums-of-squares]

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16 votes
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Many representations as a sum of three squares

Let $r_3(n) = \left|\{(a,b,c)\in {\mathbb Z}^3 :\, a^2+b^2+c^2=n \}\right|$. I am looking for the maximum asymptotic size of $r_3(n)$. That is, the maximum number of representations that a number can ...
Adam Sheffer's user avatar
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18 votes
2 answers
6k views

Efficient computation of integer representation as a sum of three squares

Recently I've been studying the problem of integer representation as sum of three squares. Most of the articles that I've found study the function $r_m(n)$ which counts the number of representations ...
Anton's user avatar
  • 1,573
16 votes
2 answers
1k views

Representing $x^3-2$ as a sum of two squares

Prove that there exist infinitely many integers $x$ such that integer $P(x)=x^3-2$ is a sum of two squares of integers. Ideally, I am looking for a proof method that also applies for other $P(x)$, ...
Bogdan Grechuk's user avatar
8 votes
2 answers
616 views

The number of solution of $x_1^2 + \cdots + x_k^2 \equiv \lambda \bmod q$

I'm playing with exponential sums... If $q$ is an odd prime and $a$ an integer such that $q \nmid a$, then the following formula for the Gaussian sum is known $$\sum_{x=0}^{q-1} e_q(ax^2) = \left(\...
user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
2k views

Lattice points on the boundary of an ellipse

How many points of the integer lattice ${\mathbb Z}^2$ can an axis-parallel ellipse of radius $r$ contain on its boundary? (that is, we consider ${\mathbb Z}^2$ as lying in ${\mathbb R}^2$). ...
Adam Sheffer's user avatar
  • 1,052
10 votes
4 answers
3k views

Sum of squares modulo a prime

What is the probability that the sum of squares of n randomly chosen numbers from $Z_p$ is a quadratic residue mod p? That is, let $a_1$,..$a_n$ be chosen at random. Then how often is $\Sigma_i a^2_i$...
user16203's user avatar
  • 101
1 vote
2 answers
218 views

Sharply Estimating Pythagorean Triples [closed]

Given $m,n\in\Bbb N$ with $m<n$, how many pythagorean triples $p^2+r^2=q^2$ satisfy $$m\leq p<r\leq n?$$ Is there a way to give a sharp estimate?
user avatar
50 votes
6 answers
6k views

Intuition for the last step in Serre's proof of the three-squares theorem

Serre's A Course in Arithmetic gives essentially the following proof of the three-squares theorem, which says that an integer $a$ is the sum of three squares if and only if it is not of the form $4^m (...
Qiaochu Yuan's user avatar
31 votes
5 answers
37k views

Enumerating ways to decompose an integer into the sum of two squares

The well known "Sum of Squares Function" tells you the number of ways you can represent an integer as the sum of two squares. See the link for details, but it is based on counting the factors of the ...
MathMonkey's user avatar
26 votes
1 answer
773 views

Distribution of $a^2+\alpha b^2$

It is well known that size of the set of positive integers up to $n$ that can be written as $a^2+b^2$ is asymptotic to $C \frac{n}{\sqrt{\log n}}$. Here I'm interested mostly in the weaker fact that ...
Rodrigo's user avatar
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26 votes
3 answers
2k views

Sum of squares and divisibility

Consider an integer of the form $$N = 1 + \sum_{i=1}^r d_i^2$$ where $d_i \in \mathbb{N}_{\ge 3}$ and $d_i^2$ divides $N$. Question: Must $r$ be greater than or equal to $9$? Checking (with SageMath): ...
Sebastien Palcoux's user avatar
21 votes
1 answer
1k views

Primes that are sums of two squares with constraints on the squares

It is well known that there are infinitely many primes of the form $a^2+b^2$ (namely all primes congruent to $1$ modulo $4$). On the other hand, Euler raised the problem as to whether there are ...
Kai's user avatar
  • 213
19 votes
1 answer
2k views

Legendre and sums of three squares

The Three-Squares-Theorem was proved by Gauss in his Disquisitiones, and this proof was studied carefully by various number theorists. Three years before Gauss, Legendre claimed to have given a proof ...
Franz Lemmermeyer's user avatar
18 votes
1 answer
661 views

Is it true that $\{x^4+y^2+z^2:\ x,y,z\in\mathbb Z[i]\}=\{a+2bi:\ a,b\in\mathbb Z\}$?

Recall that the ring of Gaussian integers is $$\mathbb Z[i]=\{a+bi:\ a,b\in\mathbb Z\}.$$ Clearly $$(a+bi)^2=a^2-b^2+2abi\ \ \mbox{and}\ \ (a+bi)^4=(a^2-b^2)^2-4a^2b^2+4ab(a^2-b^2)i.$$ Question. Is it ...
Zhi-Wei Sun's user avatar
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15 votes
0 answers
619 views

Does every integer $n>1$ have the form $a^2+b^2+3^c+5^d$ with $a,b,c,d$ nonnegative integers?

Lagrange's four-square theorem states that every nonnegative integer is the sum of four squares. I have tried to replace two of the four squares by two powers. This leads to my following question: ...
Zhi-Wei Sun's user avatar
  • 14.5k
14 votes
4 answers
3k views

Jacobi's theorem on sums of two squares (reference request)

One of Jacobi's theorems states that the number of representations of a positive integer $n$ as a sum of two squares of integers equals $$4(d_1(n)-d_3(n)),$$ where the function $d_i$ counts the number ...
Dr. Pi's user avatar
  • 2,949
14 votes
3 answers
2k views

Polynomials that are sums of squares

Is any algorithm known for determining whether or not a multivariate polynomial with integer coefficients can be written as a sum of squares of such polynomials? By way of background, if we one ...
raffer's user avatar
  • 141
11 votes
2 answers
402 views

Extension of Dickson's theorem on integers of the form $a^2+b^2+2c^2$

Theorems V in this paper of L.E. Dickson states that the following two sets are equal. $$E=\{a^2+b^2+2c^2 \ | \ a,b,c \in \mathbb{Z}\} \ \text{ and } \ F=\mathbb{N} \setminus \{4^k(16n+14) \ | \ k,n \...
Sebastien Palcoux's user avatar
11 votes
0 answers
409 views

Sums of squares via semidefinite programming for the complex free group algebra

In the algebra of real noncommutative polynomials (the “free monoid algebra” over the real field) it is possible to reduce the question of whether an element is a sum of hermitian squares and ...
Jon Bannon's user avatar
  • 6,997
11 votes
2 answers
513 views

Jacobi symbols for two-square sums of primes

Given a prime $p\equiv 1\pmod 4$, Fermat's two-squares theorem discovered by Girard states that there exists two integers $A,B$ such that $p=A^2+B^2$. For all primes up to $10^7$ the integers $A$ and $...
Roland Bacher's user avatar
10 votes
1 answer
1k views

Representations by positive definite binary quadratic forms

It's known that the number of representations of an integer $k$ by sum of two squares is $$ 4\;\sum_{d|k}\left(\frac{-4}{d}\right) $$ or $$ 4\sum_{d|k,\; d \textrm{ odd}} (-1)^{\frac{d-1}{2}}= 4(d_1(k)...
emiliocba's user avatar
  • 2,321
9 votes
3 answers
4k views

Efficient method to write number as a sum of four squares?

Wikipedia states that there randomized polynomial-time algorithms for writing $n$ as a sum of four squares $n=x_{1}^{2}+x_{2}^{2}+x_{3}^{2}+x_{4}^{2}$ in expected running time $\mathrm {O} (\log^{2}...
nequit's user avatar
  • 99
6 votes
0 answers
525 views

When is $ \sigma(n!-1) $ a perfect square?

I am looking for pairs of positive integers $(m,n)$ such that $ \sigma(n!-1) =m^2$, where $\sigma$ is the sum of divisors function. Examples occur with $(m,n)=(12,5),(1,2)$. Question: Are there ...
user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
359 views

Question on Sums of Squares

Is it possible for two different $n$-element sets, each of which consists of $n$ unique positive integers (they can appear in both sets, though) to have the same sum when the squares of their elements ...
rebeccakuang's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
253 views

Can I prove that a polynomial representing the 4th moment of a weighted-sum of random variables is a sos?

I am looking at the 4th central moment of a weighted-sum of correlated random variables, which takes the form $$\mu_4 = \sum_{i,j,k,l=1}^n w_i w_j w_k w_l \mu_{ijkl}$$ where $\mu_{ijkl}$ are the ...
Brian's user avatar
  • 173
1 vote
1 answer
170 views

Small linear relations between primitive Pythagorean triples $\mathsf I$

Say $a^2+b^2=c^2$ is a primitive Pythagorean triple. Then consider the Linear Diophantine Equation $$ua^2+vb^2+xab+ybc+zca=0$$ where $(u,v,x, y, z)\in\mathbb Z^4$ are variables. If $(u,v,x, y, z)\neq(...
VS.'s user avatar
  • 1,816
0 votes
0 answers
125 views

Do many homogeneous polynomials help in faster integer root extraction?

Given $n$ homogeneous algebraically independent total degree $2$ polynomials with no $x_1^2,\dots,x_n^2$ variable in $\mathbb Z[x_1,\dots,x_n]$ with promise that it has non-zero integer roots with ...
VS.'s user avatar
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