Related papers: Refining Lagrange's four-square theorem

A short and elementary proof, and a finite-form generalization, are given of Jacobi's formula for the number of ways of writing an integer as a sum of four squares (that implies Lagrange's famous 1777 theorem.)

We show that every sum of squares in the three-variable Laurent series field $\mathbb{R}((x,y,z))$ is a sum of 4 squares, as was conjectured in a paper of Choi, Dai, Lam and Reznick in the 1980's. We obtain this result by proving that every…

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…

The pentagonal numbers are the integers given by $p_5(n)=n(3n-1)/2\ (n=0,1,2,\ldots)$. Let $(b,c,d)$ be one of the triples $(1,1,2),(1,2,3),(1,2,6)$ and $(2,3,4)$. We show that each $n=0,1,2,\ldots$ can be written as $w+bx+cy+dz$ with…

The problem of representing a given positive integer as a sum of four squares of integers has been widely concerned for a long time, and for a given positive odd $n$ one can find a representation by doing arithmetic in a maximal order of…

This paper is concerned with the problem of finding $n$ distinct squares such that, on excluding any one of them, the sum of the remaining $n-1$ squares is a square. While parametric solutions are known when $n=3$ and $n=4$, when $n > 4$,…

A number $N$ is a triangular number if it can be written as $N = t(t + 1)/2$ for some nonnegative integer number $t$. A triangular number $N$ is called square if it is a perfect square, that is, $N = d^2$ for some integer number $d$. Square…

We use a representability theorem of G. L. Watson to examine sums of squares in Quaternion rings with integer coefficients. This allows us to determine a large family of such rings where every element expressible as the sum of squares can…

It is proved that the discriminant of $n\times n$ real symmetric matrices can be written as a sum of squares, where the number of summands equals the dimension of the space of $n$-variable spherical harmonics of degree $n$. The…

Let $d>r\ge 0$ be integers. For positive integers $a,b,c$, if any term of the arithmetic progression $\{r+dn:\ n=0,1,2,\ldots\}$ can be written as $ax^2+by^2+cz^2$ with $x,y,z\in\mathbb{Z}$, then the form $ax^2+by^2+cz^2$ is called…

Every odd prime number p can be written in exactly (p + 1)/2 ways as a sum ab+cd of two ordered products ab and cd such that min(a, b) > max(c, d). An easy corollary is a proof of Fermat's Theorem expressing primes in 1 + 4N as sums of two…

This paper is concerned with finite sequences of integers that may be written as sums of squares of two nonzero integers. We first find infinitely many integers $n$ such that $n, n+h$ and $n+k$ are all sums of two squares where $h$ and $k$…

We discuss the problem of finding distinct integer sets $\{x_1,x_2,...,x_n\}$ where each sum $x_i+x_j, i \ne j$ is a square, and $n \le 7$. We confirm minimal results of Lagrange and Nicolas for $n=5$ and for the related problem with…

In the paper we can prove that every integer can be written as the sum of two integers, one perfect square and one squarefree. We also establish the asympotic formula for the number of representations of an integer in this form. The result…

We show that almost every positive integer can be expressed as a sum of four squares of integers represented as the sums of three positive cubes.

Let $m\ge3$ be an integer. The polygonal numbers of order $m+2$ are given by $p_{m+2}(n)=m\binom n2+n$ $(n=0,1,2,\ldots)$. A famous claim of Fermat proved by Cauchy asserts that each nonnegative integer is the sum of $m+2$ polygonal numbers…

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…

In this paper we confirm a conjecture of Sun which states that each positive integer is a sum of a square, an odd square and a triangular number. Given any positive integer m, we show that p=2m+1 is a prime congruent to 3 modulo 4 if and…

Hilbert's ternary quartic theorem states that every nonnegative degree 4 homogeneous polynomial in three variables can be written as a sum of three squares of homogeneous quadratic polynomials. We give a linear-algebraic approach to…

A proof of Lagrange's and Jacobi's four-square theorem due to Hurwitz utilizes orders in a quaternion algebra over the rationals. Seeking a generalization of this technique to orders over number fields, we identify two key components: an…