On the elements of prime power order in \(K_2(\mathbb Q)\) (Q2474293)

Let \(F\) be a field and let \(G_n(F)\) denote the set of symbols in \(K_2(F)\) of the form \(\{a,\Phi_n(a)\}\), where \(\Phi_n(x)\) is the \(n\)th cyclotomic polynomial and \(a\), \(\Phi_n(a)\) are nonzero elements of \textit{F. J. Browkin} [Algebraic \(K\)-theory, Proc. Conf., Oberwolfach 1980, Part I, Lect. Notes Math. 966, 1--6 (1982; Zbl 0502.12009)] pointed out that these elements have order dividing n in K2(F) but conjectured that for infinite fields \(F\), \(G_n(F)\) is not a group if \(n\neq 1,2,3,4,6\). The authors prove that \(G_{p^n}(\mathbb{Q})\) is not a group if \(p\geq 5\) (\(p\) prime) and \(n\geq 2\). Their proof uses the fact that the equation \(x^{p-1}+ x^{p-2}+\cdots+ 1= z^p\) has only finitely many rational solutions. To prove this, they use \textit{G. Faltings'} result on the Mordell conjecture [Invent. Math. 73, 349--366 (1984; Zbl 0588.14026)].