Outline Mathematics: primes as differences of squares

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Outline Mathematics
Number Theory

Primes as differences of squares

Here's a problem to tackle:

Which primes can be expressed as the difference of two squares?
Which primes can be so expressed in two or more different ways?

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Copyright © 1996-2012 Alexander Bogomolny

Solution

Which primes can be expressed as the difference of two squares?
Which primes can be so expressed in two or more different ways?

(In the applet below, click on the underlined omitted expressions. See what happens.)

This applet requires Sun's Java VM 2 which your browser may perceive as a popup. Which it is not. If you want to see the applet work, visit Sun's website at http://www.java.com/en/download/index.jsp, download and install Java VM and enjoy the applet.

References

T. Gardiner, More Mathematical Challenges, Cambridge University Press, 2003, pp. 92-93.

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Copyright © 1996-2012 Alexander Bogomolny

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