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4 votes
1 answer
316 views

Which integers can be expressed as $P(t)^2 + Q(t)^2 + R(t)^5$?

Inspired by this article and that one, I have two questions: (1) Is the question of whether every integer can be expressed in the form $x^2 + y^2 + z^5$ ($x$, $y$, $z$ in $\mathbb{Z}$) an open problem?...
uvdose's user avatar
  • 655
9 votes
1 answer
637 views

Representing $x^6-4$ as a sum of two squares

Prove that there exist infinitely many integers $x$ such that integer $P(x)=x^6-4$ is a sum of two squares of integers. Equivalently, prove that $x^3-2$ and $x^3+2$ are simultaneously sums of two ...
Bogdan Grechuk's user avatar
5 votes
0 answers
284 views

On $w^4+x^4+y^2+z^2$ over a number field

In 1921 Siegel confirmed a conjecture of Hilbert by proving that for any number field $K$ each element of $$K_{\geq0}=\{a\in K:\ \sigma(a)\geq0\ \mbox{for all}\ \sigma\in\mathrm{Gal}(K/\mathbb Q)\}$$ ...
Zhi-Wei Sun's user avatar
  • 15.6k
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
19 votes
1 answer
679 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
  • 15.6k
3 votes
1 answer
547 views

$x^2+7y^2=2^n$ and sums of four squares

Lagrange's four square theorem states that each $m\in\mathbb N=\{0,1,2,\ldots\}$ can be written as a sum of four squares. Recently, I found that the diophantine equation $x^2+7y^2=2^n$ has certain ...
Zhi-Wei Sun's user avatar
  • 15.6k
0 votes
1 answer
198 views

Write $n^2$ as $x^2+y^2+2\times4^z$ or $x^2+y^2+5\times 4^z$

In March 2018, I formulated the following somewhat curious question. Question 1. Whether for any integer $n>1$ there is a nonnegative integer $k$ such that $n^2-2\times 4^k$ or $n^2-5\times 4^k$ ...
Zhi-Wei Sun's user avatar
  • 15.6k
-1 votes
1 answer
365 views

Positive integers written as $\frac{a(a+1)}2+\frac{b(b+1)}2+4^c5^d$

Let $\mathbb N=\{0,1,2,\ldots\}$. Those $T_n:=n(n+1)/2$ with $n\in\mathbb N$ are called triangular numbers. It is well known that $$\{T_a+T_b+T_c:\ a,b,c\in\mathbb N\}=\mathbb N\tag{1}$$ which was ...
Zhi-Wei Sun's user avatar
  • 15.6k
15 votes
0 answers
631 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
  • 15.6k
1 vote
2 answers
221 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
6 votes
4 answers
550 views

Application and usage of representation of integers as sum of powers?

We know that there are many articles and manuscripts from the ancient to date talking about representation of integers as sum of squares, cubes etc. I would like to know what is it the usage and ...
asad's user avatar
  • 841
2 votes
2 answers
324 views

Four-Square Theorem for Negative Coefficient

What integers are not in the range of $a^2+b^2+c^2-x^2$ (for all integer combinations of a, b, c, and x)? This form is similar to that of Lagrange's Four-Square Theorem, for which the answer would be ...
bobuhito's user avatar
  • 1,547