News Release
Is It the Next Fermat's Last Theorem?
Dallas Banker Hits upon Number
Theory Question
and Offers a Prize
For more information, please contact:
Prof. Daniel Mauldin, University of North Texas, telephone: 940-565-3321;
e-mail: mauldin@dynamics.math.unt.edu
Dr. Ronald Graham, AT&T Research, 908-582-4696, rlg@research.att.com
November 7, 1997
Providence, RI---As a banker in Dallas, Texas, Andrew Beal has an obvious
interest in numbers. But he has another interest that is not so obvious: He is
interested in the mathematical theory of numbers.
An amateur mathematics enthusiast, Beal came upon a question in number theory
that even the experts can't answer. The question turns out to be at the
frontier of research in the field, with connections to other deep mysteries in
mathematics. To spur mathematicians to solve the problem, Beal has offered a
prize of US$5,000 for its solution. The prize will increase by US$5,000 every year
up to the amount of US$50,000.
Will the Beal Prize Problem become the next Fermat's Last Theorem? Indeed, it
is a generalization of that famous old problem, which Pierre de Fermat proposed
over 300 years ago. Like the Fermat problem, the Beal Conjecture is easily
stated: If Ax + By = Cz, then A, B, and C have
a common factor. (Here all the letters represent whole numbers, with x, y, and
z bigger than 2. Two numbers have a "common factor" if there is a number that
divides both of them evenly. For example, 12 and 63 have a common factor of
3.)
Another resemblance between the Beal Conjecture and Fermat's Last Theorem is
that both had prizes established for their solutions. In 1996, after Andrew
Wiles made international headlines by presenting the number theory arsenal that
finally brought down Fermat's Last Theorem, he collected the Wolfskehl Prize.
Established in 1908 with funds from the will of a German physician and amateur
mathematician, Paul Wolfskehl, the Wolfskehl Prize enormously increased the
fame of Fermat's Last Theorem by drawing thousands of entries from all over the
globe.
The article, "A
Generalization of Fermat's Last Theorem: The Beal
Conjecture and Prize Problem," by Professor Daniel Mauldin, appears in
the December 1997 issue of the Notices of the AMS. This article provides
further details about Beal's question and its role in modern number theory.
Founded in 1888 to further mathematical research and scholarship, the
30,000-member AMS fulfills its mission through programs and services that
promote mathematical research and its uses, strengthen mathematical education,
and foster awareness and appreciation of mathematics and its connections to
other disciplines and everyday life.
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