Related papers: On Waring's problem: two squares and three biquadr…

For various positive integers $k$, the sums of $k$th powers of the first $n$ positive integers, $S_k(n+1)=1^k+2^k+...+n^k$, have got to be some of the most popular sums in all of mathematics. In this note we prove that for each $k\ge 2 $$…

This article deals with a quantitative aspect of Hilbert's seventeenth problem: producing a collection of real polynomials in two variables of degree 8 in one variable which are positive but are not a sum of three squares of rational…

Using properties of Gauss and Jacobi sums, we derive explicit formulas for the number of solutions to a diagonal equation of the form $x_1^{2^m}+\dots+x_n^{2^m}=0$ over a finite field of characteristic $p\equiv\pm 3\pmod{8}$. All of the…

The generalized Waring problem asks exactly which positive integers cannot be expressed as the sum of $j$ positive $k$-th powers? Using computational techniques, this paper refines an approach introduced by Zenkin, establishes results for…

We show that double sums of the form $$ \sum_{i,j=-n} ^{n} |i^sj^t(i^k-j^k)^\beta| \binom {2n} {n+i} \binom {2n} {n+j} $$ can always be expressed in terms of a linear combination of just four functions, namely $\binom {4n}{2n}$, ${\binom…

Let $s(n)$ denote the sum of the proper divisors of the natural number $n$. We show that the number of $n \leq x$ such that $s(n)$ is a sum of two squares has order of magnitude $x/\sqrt{\log x}$, which agrees with the count of $n \leq x$…

We give elementary proofs for the Apagodu-Zeilberger-Stanton-Amdeberhan-Tauraso congruences $$\sum\limits_{n=0}^{p-1}\dbinom{2n}{n} \equiv\eta_{p}\mod p^{2},$$ $$\sum\limits_{n=0}^{rp-1}\dbinom{2n}{n}…

Using elementary methods, we determine the highest power of 2 dividing a power sum 1^n + 2^n + . . . + m^n, generalizing Lengyel's formula for the case where m is itself a power of 2. An application is a simple proof of Moree's result that,…

For non-negative integers $a,b,$ and $n$, let $N(a, b; n)$ be the number of representations of $n$ as a sum of squares with coefficients $1$ or $3$ ($a$ of ones and $b$ of threes). Let $N^*(a,b; n)$ be the number of representations of $n$…

Using Fermat's two squares theorem and properties of cyclotomic polynomials, we prove assertions about when numbers of the form $a^{n}+1$ can be expressed as the sum of two integer squares. We prove that $a^n + 1$ is the sum of two squares…

Let s(n) be the number of representations of n as the sum of three squares. We prove a remarkable new identity for s(p^2n)- ps(n) with p being an odd prime. This identity makes nontrivial use of ternary quadratic forms with discriminants…

Much is known about binomial coefficients where primes are concerned, but considerably less is known regarding prime powers and composites. This paper provides two conjectures in these directions, one about counting binomial coefficients…

Using completely elementary methods, we find all powers of 3 that can be written as the sum of at most twenty-two distinct powers of 2, as well as all powers of 2 that can be written as the sum of at most twenty-five distinct powers of 3.…

Waring's classical problem deals with expressing every natural number as a sum of g(k) k-th powers. Recently there has been considerable interest in similar questions for nonabelian groups, and simple groups in particular. Here the k-th…

Positive polynomials arising from Muirhead's inequality, from classical power mean and elementary symmetric mean inequalities and from Minkowski's inequality can be rewritten as sums of squares.

A celebrated result by Hilbert says that every real nonnegative ternary quartic is a sum of three squares. We show more generally that every nonnegative quadratic form on a real projective variety $X$ of minimal degree is a sum of…

One of our result is that 5 measurable sets in $R^8$ always admit an equipartition by 2 hyperplanes. This is an instance of a general equipartition problem (formulated by B. Gr{\" u}nbaum and H. Hadwiger) which can be reduced to the…

We describe an effective method for calculating certain infinite sums, generalizations of the classical Bernoulli polynomials. As shown by Edward Witten in his papers on two-dimensional gauge theories, the correlation functions of…

In this paper, we prove that for $d=3,\dots,8$, every natural number can be written as $t_x+t_y+3t_z+dt_w$, where $x$, $y$, $z$, and $w$ are nonnegative integers and $t_k=k(k+1)/2$ $(k=0,1,2,\ldots)$ is a triangular number. Furthermore, we…

We describe mean value estimates for exponential sums of degree exceeding 2 that approach those conjectured to be best possible. The vehicle for this recent progress is the efficient congruencing method, which iteratively exploits the…