Is there a probabilistic argument that Fermat's Last Theorem is true?
arithmetic/feynman.fermat New
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Problem
Is there a probabilistic argument that Fermat's Last Theorem is true? [ Editor: problem statement reconstructed from the posting, which reports Richard Feynman's argument. ]
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In an amazing convergence of recent topics, I have found a
probabilistic proof of Fermat's Last Theorem by that great
mathematician Richard Feynman. It is from _Review of Modern
Physics_, volume 58, no. 2, April 1986, page 502.
He argues that the spacing between (N)^(1/n) and (N+1)^(1/n)
is (for large N) (1/n)*N^(1/n-1). So the probability that
x^n + y^n is a perfect nth power is
(x^n+y^n)^(1/n) / (n(x^n+y^n)) [Editor: closing parenthesis added].
So the total probability of any x^n+y^n being perfect nth
power for x > x0 and y > y0 is equal to
int_x0^infty { int_x0^infty 1/n(x^n+y^n)^(-1+1/n) dx dy }
= 2/n * cn * x0^(3-n)
where 2cn =
int_0^infty int_0^infty (u^n+v^n)^(1/n-1) du dv
Feynman notes that c2 converges badly, corresponding to the
infinitude of solutions of x^2 + y^2 = z^2 [Editor: "= x^2" in the
original]. c3 diverges logarithmically so we can't use probability,
must use analytic techniques.
For large n, he goes on to show that the chance of finding a
counterexample is less than 10^-200, so "for my money Fermat's
Theorem is true."
Feynman also points out, however, that a similar argument
would show that something like x^7 + y^13 = z^11 (prime
powers) would have no solutions when in fact it has infinitely
many.
-- David Fry <fry@huma1.harvard.EDU>