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Asymptotic behavior of sumsets of squares with restricted congruence conditions

Recall that if $A$ and $B$ are both subsets of the integers, then $A+B=\{a+b:a \in A,b \in B\}$. Lagrange's four-square theorem states that if $A$ is the set of squares, then $4A=A+A+A+A=\mathbb{N}$. ...
Jonah's user avatar
  • 101
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
15 votes
4 answers
2k views

Square roots and prime numbers

Definitions: Here I present a novel conjecture using basic mathematical tools like the sum of the divisors of an integer $n$ called $\sigma(n)$, the sum of the squares of the positive divisors of n ...
Sulfura's user avatar
  • 127
0 votes
0 answers
35 views

Decomposition in two hermitian squares over ring of integer of CM fields

Let $k$ a CM-field of conjugation $\bar \cdot$ and maximal totally real subfield $k^+$ and $k^{++}$ its positive part $k^{++}$. Given a totally positive element $x$ in the ring of integers of $k^+$, ...
user70925's user avatar
  • 313
11 votes
2 answers
614 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
1 vote
0 answers
133 views

What is the possible reminders modulo 4 of an "odd part" of a polynomial?

Let $f(x)$ be a polynomial with integer coefficients. Let $f(x) = 2^k \cdot m$ where $m$ is odd. The questions are What are the possible values of $m \mod 4$ (1, 3 or both)? I want the algorithm ...
Denis Shatrov's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
361 views

A simple way to bound the density of sums of two odd squares

Define $$S(x) ~=~ \# \left\{ n^2+m^2\leq x : n,m\in\mathbb{N}\right\}$$ Landau (1908) proved that with $$ B(x) ~=~ K\,\frac{x}{ \sqrt{\log x}} ~~\text{ one has}~~~ \lim \limits_{x\to \infty} \frac{S(...
Karl Fabian's user avatar
  • 1,676
9 votes
1 answer
636 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
2 votes
1 answer
240 views

Bounds on largest possible square in sum of two squares

Suppose we are given integers $k,c$ such that $k=1+c^2$. Let $n$ be an odd integer and suppose that $k^n=a_i^2+b_i^2$ for distinct positive integers $a_i<b_i$ and $i\le d$. That is, there are $d$ ...
TheSimpliFire's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
196 views

Sum of squares squared in an arithmetic progression

Let $r(n)$ be the number of ways to write $n$ as a sum of two squares and $(a,q)=1$. What is known about $$ \sum_{n \le x,n \equiv a (\text{mod} \, q)} r(n)^2 \quad? $$ I am looking for uniform ...
toshi's user avatar
  • 130
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
5 votes
1 answer
312 views

How often is the value of a quadratic polynomial equal to a sum of two integer squares?

Let $b:\mathbb N\to \{0,1\}$ be the indicator function of integers that are a sum of two non-zero integer squares. Let $f(t)\in \mathbb Z[t]$ be an irreducible polynomial of degree $2$ with positive ...
Dr. Pi's user avatar
  • 3,062
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
2 votes
2 answers
280 views

Gaps between combinations of squares of integers

Let $\theta$ be a positive irrational number and $S=\{\theta n^2+m^2: n, m\in \mathbb{N}\}$. The elements of $S$ can be written as a sequence of strictly increasing numbers $\{s_n\}$. My question is ...
J. J.'s user avatar
  • 21
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
11 votes
1 answer
478 views

Explanation of several unpublished remarks of Gauss on representations of a given number as sums of two, three and four squares

Remark 1: On p.384 of volume 3 of Gauss's Werke, which is a part of an unpublished treatise on the arithmetic geometric mean, Gauss makes the following remark: On the theory of the division of ...
user2554's user avatar
  • 2,099
8 votes
2 answers
1k views

A generalization of partition function to the sums of squares

The well known partition function $p(n)$ is defined as the number of ways to represent $n$ as the sum of natural numbers. An asymptotic formula for $p(n)$ is $$p(n)\sim\frac{1}{4n\sqrt{3}}\exp\left(\...
user avatar
19 votes
1 answer
677 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
-1 votes
1 answer
252 views

Questions on $x^2+y^2+z^2$, $x^2+y^2+2z^2$ and $x^2+2y^2+3z^2$

Question 1. My computation in 2018 suggests that a sum of two integer squares is a sum of three nonzero integer squares if and only if it is not of the form $$4^km\ \ (k=0,1,2,\ldots;\ \ m=1,2,5,10,13,...
Zhi-Wei Sun's user avatar
  • 15.6k
19 votes
0 answers
523 views

univariate integer version of Hilbert's 17th problem

Let $f(x)$ be a polynomial of degree $d$ with integer coefficients such that $f(x)\geqslant 0$ for all real $x$. Is it necessarily true that there exists an integer $N(d)$ such that $N(d)\cdot f$ is a ...
Fedor Petrov's user avatar
-1 votes
1 answer
182 views

$7n=x^2+2y^2+4z^2$ with or without $x^2\equiv y^2\equiv z^2\pmod 7$

It is well known that any positive odd integer can be written as $x^2+2y^2+4z^2$ with $x,y,z\in\mathbb Z$. Question 1. Whether for any odd integer $n>93$ there are $x,y,z\in\mathbb Z$ such that $7n=...
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
1 vote
1 answer
173 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
  • 1,826
0 votes
1 answer
197 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
3 votes
1 answer
389 views

How are natural numbers that cannot be written as a sum of exactly four squares of naturals characterized? [closed]

This is most probably asked here already in some other form (as it seems to be a very basic question) but since I have't found some question very similar to this one I feel obliged to ask (also ...
user avatar
2 votes
0 answers
242 views

Sums of squares in fields

Which fields $k$ have the property that any sum of squares is a square ? Are there elegant characterizations and/or classifications known for this type of field ? And what if we replace "fields" by "...
THC's user avatar
  • 4,547
1 vote
0 answers
98 views

Lagrange's four squares theorem in other fields [duplicate]

Is something known about analogues of Lagrange's four squares theorem in number fields other than $\mathbb{Q}$? I'm more interested in the case of finite extensions of $\mathbb{Q}$. For example, is ...
Артемий Соколов's user avatar
4 votes
0 answers
507 views

Four-square Conjecture

Lagrange's four-square theorem states that every nonnegative integer can be written as the sum of four squares. My following conjecture is much stronger than this classical theorem. Four-square ...
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
18 votes
1 answer
926 views

Lagrange four-squares theorem --- deterministic complexity

Lagrange's four-squares theorem states that every natural number can be represented as the sum of four integer squares. Rabin and Shallit gave a randomised algorithm that finds one of these solutions ...
ckamath's user avatar
  • 283
9 votes
1 answer
1k views

Sums of two squares in arithmetic progressions

Let $r(n)$ denote the number of representations of $n$ as the sum of two squares. Are there any known results on $$\sum _{n\leq x\atop {n\equiv a(q)}}r(n)$$ and in particular is there an asymptotic ...
caws's user avatar
  • 143
3 votes
0 answers
203 views

On sums of three squares

Let $\mathbb N=\{0,1,2,\ldots\}$. By the Gauss-Legendre theorem on sums of three squares, any $n\in\mathbb N$ with $n\equiv1,2\pmod4$ can be written as $x^2+y^2+z^2$ with $x,y,z\in\mathbb N$. Clearly, ...
Zhi-Wei Sun's user avatar
  • 15.6k
10 votes
1 answer
493 views

Is 100 the only Leyland number that is a square?

Leyland numbers (named for Paul Leyland) are positive integers of the form $x^y + y^x$ , where x and y are naturals > 1, and also the number 3. The OEIS link is https://oeis.org/A076980 I thought ...
don bright's user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
386 views

Sieve bound for the sum of two squares

Let $$S(n) = \sum_{p \le n} b(n-p),$$ where $b(a)=1$ is $a$ is a sum of two squares of positive integers and $b(a)=0$ otherwise. Trivially by PNT we have $$S(n) \le \sum_{p \le n}1 \ll \frac{n}{\log n}...
toshi's user avatar
  • 130
5 votes
0 answers
229 views

Can we write each positive integer as $x^2+y^2+\varphi(z^2)$?

As odd squares are congruent to $1$ modulo $8$, any integer of the form $4^k(8m+7)$ with $k,m\in\mathbb N=\{0,1,2,\ldots\}$ cannot be written as the sum of three squares. To avoid such congruence ...
Zhi-Wei Sun's user avatar
  • 15.6k
6 votes
0 answers
336 views

Legendre's three-square theorem and squared norm of integer matrices

Let $\mathbb{N}$ be the set of non-negative integers. Let $E_n$ be the set of integers which are the sum of $n$ squares. Let $F_n$ be the set of integers of the form $\Vert A \Vert^2$ with $A \in M_n(...
Sebastien Palcoux's user avatar
11 votes
2 answers
410 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
35 votes
3 answers
2k views

Lagrange four squares theorem

Lagrange's four square theorem states that every non-negative integer is a sum of squares of four non-negative integers. Suppose $X$ is a subset of non-negative integers with the same property, that ...
M. Farrokhi D. G.'s user avatar
3 votes
2 answers
659 views

Number of ways to write an integer as a sum of squares modulo $k$

Given a natural number $n$ and an element $k \in \mathbb{Z}_n$, how many solutions are there in $\mathbb{Z}_n$ to the equation $x^2+y^2 =k$? That is, I'm wondering whether there is a mod-$n$ version ...
Dave Gaebler's user avatar
13 votes
1 answer
2k views

For a proof of the three-square theorem without using Dirichlet's theorem on primes in arithmetic progressions

The three-square theorem states that $n\in\mathbb N=\{0,1,2,\ldots\}$ is the sum of three squares if and only if it is not of the form $4^k(8m+7)$ ($k,m\in\mathbb N$). This was first proved by ...
Zhi-Wei Sun's user avatar
  • 15.6k
16 votes
0 answers
588 views

The number 1680 and Lagrange's four-square theorem

The number $1680$ has the factorization $2^4\times3\times5\times7$. Rather to my surprise, I found that this number has certain mysterious connection with Lagrange's four-square theorem. QUESTION: ...
Zhi-Wei Sun's user avatar
  • 15.6k
2 votes
2 answers
2k views

Efficient sum of squares decomposition

Sum of 4 squares decomposition is the well-known result. I'm interested only in negative/non-negative separation with focus on efficiency and large numbers. I'm looking for alternatives or extensions ...
Vadym Fedyukovych's user avatar
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
14 votes
0 answers
481 views

If $ab^2$ is a sum of three squares, then so is $a$. How to see it quickly?

Here $a, b$ are positive integers, and the squares are the squares of integers. This follows from Legendre's three squares theorem, but is there a direct way?
Fedor Petrov's user avatar
8 votes
1 answer
416 views

Every odd integer greater than $1$ is of the form $a+b$ with $a^2+b^2$ being prime

Let $m$ be an odd integer greater than $1$. Is it true that there are positive $a, b$ such that $m=a+b$ and $a^2+b^2$ is a prime number? It seems that for every odd $m$ there are many $(a,b)\in \...
Konstantinos Gaitanas's user avatar
9 votes
3 answers
5k 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
  • 101
6 votes
0 answers
535 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
1 vote
1 answer
504 views

Fermat two square and Lagrange four square via Hardy-Littlewood circle method [closed]

Fermat two square: An odd prime p is expressible as ${\displaystyle p=x^{2}+y^{2},\,}$ with $x, y$ integers, if and only if ${\displaystyle p\equiv 1{\pmod {4}}.}$ Lagrange four square: Every ...
asad's user avatar
  • 841
0 votes
1 answer
612 views

Number of fixed points in Zagier's involution (Fermat's Theorem) [closed]

Zagier's has found a famous one sentence proof for Fermat's theorem on sums of two squares. It centers on the following involution of the set $S= \lbrace (x,y,z) \in N^3: x^2+4yz=p \rbrace $ having ...
Toastgeraet's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
152 views

The Linnik problem for dimension $2$

For $N$ an integer, let $$\Omega_N:=\left\{\frac{\alpha}{\|\alpha\|}|\alpha \in\textbf{Z}^n~\text{and}~\|\alpha\|^2=N\right\}.$$ For $n=3$, Linnik asked if the set $\Omega_N$ was uniformly distributed ...
Stabilo's user avatar
  • 1,479