A Factorial Power Variation of Fermat's Equation

Authors

Matthew J. Green, Towson UniversityFollow

Abstract

We consider a variant of Fermat's well-known equation xn+yn=zn. T his variant replaces the usual powers with the factorial powers defined by xn=x(x-1)...(x-(n-1)). For n=2 we characterize all possible integer solutions of the equation. For n=3 we show that there exist infinitely many non-trivial solutions to the equation. Finally we show there exists no maximum n for which xn+yn = zn has a non-trivial solution.

Author Bio

Matthew Green graduated with a B.Sc. in Mathematics from Towson University in 2011, where he completed this research during his senior year. He plans to attend graduate school in pursuit of a PhD in mathematics.

Faculty Sponsor

Alexei Kolesnikov

Recommended Citation

Green, Matthew J. (2012) "A Factorial Power Variation of Fermat's Equation," Rose-Hulman Undergraduate Mathematics Journal: Vol. 13: Iss. 1, Article 3.
Available at: https://scholar.rose-hulman.edu/rhumj/vol13/iss1/3