On Euler's hypothetical proof (Q942057)
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On Euler's hypothetical proof (English)
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3 September 2008
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It is well known that there is a gap in Euler's proof that the cubic Fermat equation \(x^3 + y^3 = z^3\) only has trivial solutions: Euler did not prove that if \(a^2 + 3b^2\) is a cube, then there exist integers \(p\), \(q\) such that \(a = p(p^2-9q^2)\) and \(b = 3q(p^2 - q^2)\). In this article, the author sketches an elementary proof, which is, however, essentially the one given by \textit{A. Weil} [Number theory. An approach through history from Hammurapi to Legendre. Reprint of the 1984 edition. Basel: Birkhäuser (2007; Zbl 1149.01013)], which in turn goes back to \textit{G. Lamé} [``Étude des binômes cubiques (\(X^3 \mp Y^3\))'', C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris 61, 921--924, 961--965 (1865)].
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Fermat
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Euler
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Fermat's Last Theorem
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