Archimedes' Cattle Problem
In a letter to Eratosthenes, Archimedes posed a problem that, in modern terms, leads to a system of seven linear and two quadratic diophantine equations in eight unknowns. The crux of the matter is to solve a Pell's equation: \(x^2- 4729494y^2= 1\), with \(y\) divisible by \(2\times 4657\). In this succinct informative paper, the author surveys the history of attempts to solve the problem, in whose solution, each number has over 200,000 digits. He sketches the basic theory of continued fractions and Pell's equation, including estimates on the size of the fundamental solution supplied by analytic number theory, and exploits this theory along with the power of the Mathematica software to obtain exact and approximate results.
- A note on the cattle problem of Archimedes
- On the cattle problem of Archimedes
- Two great theorems of Lord Brouncker and his formula \(b(s-1)b(s+1) = s^2\), \(b(s)= s + { \frac{1^2}{2s+{\frac{3^2}{2s + {\frac{5^2}{2s+{}_{\ddots}}}}}} }\)
- A simple solution to Archimedes' cattle problem
- Solving the Pell equation
- scientific article; zbMATH DE number 18743 (Why is no real title available?)
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