Difference between revisions of "Fermat's Last Theorem"
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Fermat's Last Theorem was conjectured by the French mathematician [[Pierre de Fermat]]. He said he had proved this problem but that there was not enough room in the margin to state his proof. He then died before anyone could obtain his proof. | Fermat's Last Theorem was conjectured by the French mathematician [[Pierre de Fermat]]. He said he had proved this problem but that there was not enough room in the margin to state his proof. He then died before anyone could obtain his proof. | ||
Revision as of 19:15, March 20, 2007
Fermat's Last Theorem was conjectured by the French mathematician Pierre de Fermat. He said he had proved this problem but that there was not enough room in the margin to state his proof. He then died before anyone could obtain his proof.
This problem has confounded mathematicians for centuries, and there still is no proof for it using elementary techniques. Most doubt that Fermat was able to prove it himself, as evidenced by the fact that he later proved the n = 4 case separately.
The theorem is as follows:
For integers n > 2, there are no integral solutions to: xn + yn = zn
In a series of lectures in 1993, mathematician Andrew Wiles claimed to have proved this using techniques in algebraic geometry. Critics pointed out a flaw in his proof, however. Wiles spent a year trying to fix the flaw, and in September 1994, he and Richard Taylor announced a new version of the proof that was largely accepted by the mathematical community.