scientific article; zbMATH DE number 1027908

For a prime \(l > 5\), let \(L\) denote the cyclotomic field of \(l\)th roots of unity. The author studies the Fermat equation (*) \(x^l + y^l = z^l\) in \(L\) and its subfields. By using classical methods he derives effective sufficient conditions for (*) to be unsolvable both in case 1 (\(x,y,z\) integers prime to \(l\)) and in case 2 (exactly two of the integers \(x,y,z\) prime to \(l\)). One starting point is a criterion of Vandiver-Inkeri formulated by the author as follows. Let \(I\) denote the set of the subscripts of those Bernoulli numbers among \(B_2,B_4,\dots,B_{l-3}\) which are divisible by \(l\). Choose a finite set \(\pi\) of primes \(p \equiv 1 \pmod l\). For each \(p\), set \(\kappa = (p-1)/l\) and define a function \(\nu: \mathbb{Z}/p\mathbb{Z} \to \mathbb{Z}/l\mathbb{Z}\) by the conditions \(\nu (0)=0\) and \(0 \neq a^\kappa = \zeta^{\nu(a)}\), where \(\zeta\) is a generator of the group of all \(\kappa\)th powers in \((\mathbb{Z}/p\mathbb{Z})^\times\). For \(i=0,\dots,l-2\) set \[ \gamma_i(p) = -2\sum_{j=1}^{(l-1)/2}j^{l-1-i}\nu(1-\zeta^j)+ \bigl(\sum_{j=1}^{(l-1)/2} j^{l-i}\bigr)\nu(\zeta). \] Suppose that the following statement, called condition (D) in this review, holds true: for every \(i \in I\) there is \(p \in \pi\) such that \(\gamma_i(p) \neq 0\). If every prime \(p \in \pi\) is less than \(l^2-l\), then (*) has no solutions in case 2 for pairwise coprime integers of the field \(L_+ = L \cap\mathbb{R}\). The author first obtains new criteria for the unsolvability of (*) that depend upon certain sets \(\pi\) of primes \(p\equiv 1\pmod l\), \(p \not\equiv 1\pmod{l^2}\). These sets, whose definitions are too complicated to reproduce here, are effectively computable. In case 2 the criteria also require that the prime divisors in \(L\) above the primes \(p\) in \(\pi\) generate the \(l\)-class group of \(L\). For this to happen the author provides an explicit sufficient condition. Its proof, based on Euler systems, is not given. As a consequence there are several results of a rather simple form. For example, if there exists a set \(\pi\) such that condition (D) is true and for each \(p\in\pi\) the equation (*) is unsolvable modulo \(p\), then (*) has no solutions in \(L_+\) in case 2. If, in addition, \(\gamma_{l-3}(p) \neq 0\) for all \(p\in\pi\) and every triple \(i,i',i\) of elements in \(I\) satisfies \(i \not\equiv 2+i' +i \pmod {l-1}\), then (*) has no solutions in \(L\) in case 2. As is known, condition (D) implies that the \(l\)-class group of \(L_+\) is trivial (Vandiver's conjecture). The author also presents other criteria for this conjecture to hold. The reader should be warned that the English translation of the Russian original contains a lot of mistakes. For the entire collection see [Zbl 0863.00012].

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