Fermat's theorem (Q1119552)
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scientific article
| Language | Label | Description | Also known as |
|---|---|---|---|
| English | Fermat's theorem |
scientific article |
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Fermat's theorem (English)
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1989
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In 1640, Frénicle de Bessy challenged Fermat to find a 20-digit perfect number or its successor. The author clears up some misconceptions about this challenge and indicates how Fermat showed that \(2^{37}-1\) is composite using his result: if \(a\in N\) and \(p\nmid a\), the least d for which \(p| a^ d-1\) is a divisor of p-1.
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Fermat's little theorem
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Mersenne prime
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perfect numbers
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Frénicle de Bessy
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