Paulo Ribenboim

In 1995, Andrew Wiles completed a proof of Fermat's Last Theorem. Although this was certainly a great mathematical feat, one shouldn't dismiss earlier attempts made by mathematicians and clever amateurs to solve the problem. In this book, aimed at amateurs curious about the history of the subject, the author restricts his attention exclusively to elementary methods that have produced rich results.

Fermat’s Last Theorem for Amateurs

Ciro Ciliberto

Edoardo Sernesi

Ruggiero Torelli

Collected papers of Ruggiero Torelli

Introduction. Principal ideal domains and unique factorization domains -- Commutative fields -- pt. I. Residue classes -- Quadratic residues -- pt. 2. Algebraic integers -- Integral basis, discriminant -- The decomposition of ideals -- The norm and classes of ideals -- Units and estimations for the discriminant -- Ramification, discriminant and different -- The ramification of prime ideals in Galois extensions -- The fundamental theorem of abelian extensions -- Miscellaneous numerical examples.

Algebraic Numbers

This text originated as a lecture delivered November 20, 1984, at Queen's University, in the undergraduate colloquim series established to honor Professors A. J. Coleman and H. W. Ellis and to acknow ledge their long lasting interest in the quality of teaching under graduate students. In another colloquim lecture, my colleague Morris Orzech, who had consulted the latest edition of the Guilllless Book oj Records, remainded me very gently that the most "innumerate" people of the world are of a certain tribe in Mato Grosso, Brazil. They do not even have a word to express the number "two" or the concept of plurality. "Yes Morris, I'm from Brazil, but my book will contain numbers different from 'one.' " He added that the most boring 800-page book is by two Japanese mathematicians (whom I'll not name), and consists of about 16 million digits of the number 11. "I assure you Morris, that in spite of the beauty of the apparent randomness of the decimal digits of 11, I'll be sure that my text will include also some words." Acknowledgment. The manuscript of this book was prepared on the word processor by Linda Nuttall. I wish to express my appreciation for the great care, speed, and competence of her work.

The Book of Prime Number Records

Proceedings of the Queen's Number Theory Conference, 1979

A. V. Geramita

Albert John Coleman

Queen's Papers in Pure and Applied Mathematics

Fermat's problem, also ealled Fermat's last theorem, has attraeted the attention of mathematieians far more than three eenturies. Many clever methods have been devised to attaek the problem, and many beautiful theories have been ereated with the aim of proving the theorem. Yet, despite all the attempts, the question remains unanswered. The topie is presented in the form of leetures, where I survey the main lines of work on the problem. In the first two leetures, there is a very brief deseription of the early history , as well as a seleetion of a few of the more representative reeent results. In the leetures whieh follow, I examine in sue­ eession the main theories eonneeted with the problem. The last two lee tu res are about analogues to Fermat's theorem. Some of these leetures were aetually given, in a shorter version, at the Institut Henri Poineare, in Paris, as well as at Queen's University, in 1977. I endeavoured to produee a text, readable by mathematieians in general, and not only by speeialists in number theory. However, due to a limitation in size, I am aware that eertain points will appear sketehy. Another book on Fermat's theorem, now in preparation, will eontain a eonsiderable amount of the teehnieal developments omitted here. It will serve those who wish to learn these matters in depth and, I hope, it will clarify and eomplement the present volume.

13 Lectures on Fermat's Last Theorem

The exposition of the classical theory of algebraic numbers is clear and thorough, and there is a large number of exercises as well as worked out numerical examples. A careful study of this book will provide a solid background to the learning of more recent topics.

Classical Theory of Algebraic Numbers

Der Autor präsentiert in dem Band die grundlegenden Sätze und die wichtigsten ungelösten Probleme aus der Welt der Primzahlen. Begleitet wird diese umfassende Darstellung zu den elementaren Bausteinen der natürlichen Zahlen von einer einmaligen Sammlung zu den Primzahlrekorden. In der englischen Originalfassung fast schon ein Klassiker, erscheint das Buch jetzt in der 2., vollständig überarbeiteten und aktualisierten Auflage.

Geheimnisse und Rekorde

Die Welt der Primzahlen

Lecture I The Early History of Fermat's Last Theorem.- 1 The Problem.- 2 Early Attempts.- 3 Kummer's Monumental Theorem.- 4 Regular Primes.- 5 Kummer's Work on Irregular Prime Exponents.- 6 Other Relevant Results.- 7 The Golden Medal and the Wolfskehl Prize.- Lecture II Recent Results.- 1 Stating the Results.- 2 Explanations.- Lecture III B.K. = Before Kummer.- 1 The Pythagorean Equation.- 2 The Biquadratic Equation.- 3 The Cubic Equation.- 4 The Quintic Equation.- 5 Fermat's Equation of Degree Seven.- Lecture IV The Naïve Approach.- 1 The Relations of Barlow and Abel.- 2 Sophie Germain.- 3 Co.

'" Prime Numbers, Friends Who Give Problems is written as a trialogue, with two persons who are interested in prime numbers asking the author, Papa Paulo, intelligent questions. Starting at a very elementary level, the book advances steadily, covering all important topics of the theory of prime numbers, up to the most famous problems. The humorous conversations and the inclusion of a back-story add to the uniqueness of the book. Concepts and results are also explained with great care, making the book accessible to a wide audience. Contents:What are Prime Numbers?Division is Harder than MultiplicationAnother Paulo! Is a Dialogue of Three Possible?How Natural Numbers are Made Out of PrimesTell Me Which is the Largest Prime?Trying Hard to Find PrimesA Formula, A Formula, PleasePaulo Came with a LassoBeautiful Old Elementary ArithmeticThe Old Man Still KnowsCan You Tell Me All About Congruences?Homework CheckedTesting for Primality and FactorizationFermat Numbers are Friendly. Are They Primes?This World is PerfectUnfriendly Numbers from a Friend of Fermat''sPaying My DebtMoney and PrimesSecret MessagesNew Numbers and FunctionsPrinceps GaussGathering ForcesThe After "Math" of GaussPrimes After Dinner: Bad Dreams?Primes in Arithmetic ProgressionSelling PrimesThe Great Prime MysteriesMysteries in Sequences: More But Not AllThe End and the Beginning Readership: College students, high school teachers and beginners interested in number theory and important facts about prime numbers. "'

A Trialogue with Papa Paulo

Prime Numbers, Friends Who Give Problems

This text originated as a lecture delivered November 20, 1984, at Queen's University, in the undergraduate colloquium series established to honour Professors A. J. Coleman and H. W. Ellis and to acknowledge their long-lasting interest in the quality of teaching undergraduate students. In another colloquium lecture, my colleague Morris Orzech, who had consulted the latest edition of the Guinness Book oj Records, reminded me very gently that the most "innumerate" people of the world are of a certain tribe in Mato Grosso, Brazil. They do not even have a word to express the number "two" or the concept of plurality. "Yes Morris, I'm from Brazil, but my book will contain numbers different from 'one.' " He added that the most boring 800-page book is by two Japanese mathematicians (whom I'll not name), and consists of about 16 million digits of the number 11. "I assure you Morris, that in spite of the beauty of the apparent randomness of the decimal digits of 11, I'll be sure that my text will also include some words." Acknowledgment. The manuscript of this book was prepared on the word processor by Linda Nuttall. I wish to express my appreciation for the great care, speed, and competence of her work. Paulo Ribenboim CONTENTS Preface vii Guiding the Reader xiii Index of Notations xv Introduction Chapter 1. How Many Prime Numbers Are There? 3 I. Euclid's Proof 3 II.

This text originated as a lecture delivered November 20, 1984, at Queen's University, in the undergraduate colloquium senes. In another colloquium lecture, my colleague Morris Orzech, who had consulted the latest edition of the Guinness Book of Records, reminded me very gently that the most "innumerate" people of the world are of a certain trible in Mato Grosso, Brazil. They do not even have a word to express the number "two" or the concept of plurality. "Yes, Morris, I'm from Brazil, but my book will contain numbers different from ·one.''' He added that the most boring 800-page book is by two Japanese mathematicians (whom I'll not name) and consists of about 16 million decimal digits of the number Te. "I assure you, Morris, that in spite of the beauty of the appar ent randomness of the decimal digits of Te, I'll be sure that my text will include also some words." And then I proceeded putting together the magic combina tion of words and numbers, which became The Book of Prime Number Records. If you have seen it, only extreme curiosity could impel you to have this one in your hands. The New Book of Prime Number Records differs little from its predecessor in the general planning. But it contains new sections and updated records.

The New Book of Prime Number Records

A deep understanding of prime numbers is one of the great challenges in mathematics. In this new edition, fundamental theorems, challenging open problems, and the most recent computational records are presented in a language without secrets. The impressive wealth of material and references will make this book a favorite companion and a source of inspiration to all readers. Paulo Ribenboim is Professor Emeritus at Queen's University in Canada, Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, and recipient of the George Pólya Award of the Mathematical Association of America. He is the author of 13 books and more than 150 research articles. From the reviews of the First Edition: Number Theory and mathematics as a whole will benefit from having such an accessible book exposing advanced material. There is no question that this book will succeed in exciting many new people to the beauty and fascination of prime numbers, and will probably bring more young people to research in these areas. (Andrew Granville, Zentralblatt)

Paulo Ribenboim

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