On certain permutation groups and sums of two squares (Q1941568): Difference between revisions

Among the least known proofs for Fermat's Two-Squares Theorem according to which every prime number \(p \equiv 1 \bmod 4\) is the sum of two integral squares is perhaps due to \textit{J. F. Ritt} [Ann. Math. (2) 26, 202--204 (1925; JFM 51.0149.03)], who proves this result using permutations of \(p\) elements and the corresponding unramified covers of \(\mathbb P_1(\mathbb C)\). In the present article, this proof is investigated in detail, and it is shown that the basic idea is related to isogenies of the elliptic curve \(y^2 = x^4 - 1\).