Thue's lemma in \(\mathbb Z[i]\) and Lagrange's four-square theorem (Q670714)

Without question, two of the most significant results of pre-19th century number theory are (a) Fermat's theorem that every prime \(p\equiv 1 \pmod 4\) is a sum of two squares, and (b) Lagrange's theorem that every positive integer is a sum of four squares. Today, several proofs are known for both of these theorems. Perhaps, the simplest proof of Fermat's theorem uses a beautiful combinatorial lemma of Axel Thue: for any \(a\) and \(m\), the congruence \(ax\equiv y \mod m\) has a ``small'' solution \(x\), \(y\) other than the trivial solution \((0,0)\). Here, ``small'' means that \(|x|,|y|\leq\sqrt{m}\). In [``Two squares and four squares: the simplest proof of all?'', Math. Gaz. 94, No. 529, 119--123 (2010; \url{doi:10.1017/s0025557200007233})], \textit{G. J. O. Jameson} gave a short, simple proof of Lagrange's theorem based on an extension of Thue's lemma to the Gaussian integers. In this paper, the author shows how using a bit more of the arithmetic of \(\mathbb{Z}[i]\) allows one to give a conceptually simpler proof based on these same ideas.