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Brocard's problem asks to find the values of n for which n!+1 is a square number m^2, where n! is the factorial (Brocard 1876, 1885). The only known solutions are n=4, 5, and ...

Let the nth composition of a function f(x) be denoted f^((n))(x), such that f^((0))(x)=x and f^((1))(x)=f(x). Denote the composition of f and g by f degreesg(x)=f(g(x)), and ...

Elementary number theory is the branch of number theory in which elementary methods (i.e., arithmetic, geometry, and high school algebra) are used to solve equations with ...

Let a, b, and k be integers with k>=1. For j=0, 1, 2, let S_j=sum_(i=j (mod 3))(-1)^i(k; i)a^(k-i)b^i. Then 2(a^2+ab+b^2)^(2k)=(S_0-S_1)^4+(S_1-S_2)^4+(S_2-S_0)^4.

The Lebesgue identity is the algebraic identity (Nagell 1951, pp. 194-195).

A p-adic number is an extension of the field of rationals such that congruences modulo powers of a fixed prime p are related to proximity in the so called "p-adic metric." ...

Number Theory

Archimedes' cattle problem, also called the bovinum problema, or Archimedes' reverse, is stated as follows: "The sun god had a herd of cattle consisting of bulls and cows, ...

An elliptic curve of the form y^2=x^3+n for n an integer. This equation has a finite number of solutions in integers for all nonzero n. If (x,y) is a solution, it therefore ...

The smallest nontrivial taxicab number, i.e., the smallest number representable in two ways as a sum of two cubes. It is given by 1729=1^3+12^3=9^3+10^3. The number derives ...