English

Reducing radicals in the spirit of Euclid

Number Theory 2020-04-14 v1

Abstract

Let pp be an odd natural number 3\ge 3. Inspired by results from Euclid's {\em Elements}, we express the irrational y=d+Rp,y=\sqrt[p]{d+\sqrt R}, whose degree is 2p2p, as a polynomial function of irrationals of degrees p\le p. In certain cases yy is expressed by simple radicals. This reduction of the degree exhibits remarkably regular patterns of the polynomials involved. The proof is based on hypergeometric summation, in particular, on Zeilberger's algorithm.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2004.06039,
  title  = {Reducing radicals in the spirit of Euclid},
  author = {Kurt Girstmair},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2004.06039},
  year   = {2020}
}