Integers which are(n’t) the sum of two cubes.
Location
383N
Monday, March 13, 2023 2:30 PM
Levent Alpoge (Harvard)
Fermat identified the integers which are a sum of two squares,
integral or rational: they are exactly those integers which have all
primes congruent to 3 (mod 4) occurring to an even power in their
prime factorization —- a condition satisfied by 0% of integers!
What about the integers which are a sum of two cubes? 0% are a sum of two integral cubes, but…
Main Theorem:
1. A positive proportion of integers aren’t the sum of two rational cubes,
2. and also a positive proportion are!
(Joint with Manjul Bhargava and Ari Shnidman.)