Hilbert-Waring Theorem/Particular Cases/4
Particular Case of the Hilbert-Waring Theorem: $k = 4$
The Hilbert-Waring Theorem states that:
For each $k \in \Z: k \ge 2$, there exists a positive integer $\map g k$ such that every positive integer can be expressed as a sum of at most $\map g k$ positive $k$th powers.
The case where $k = 4$ is:
Every positive integer can be expressed as the sum of at most $19$ powers of $4$.
That is:
- $\map g 4 = 19$
Proof
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Also see
Historical Note
It is clear that some integers require at least $19$ powers of $4$ to represent them as a sum, as $79$ requires $19$ of them:
Thus Edward Waring knew that:
- $\map g 4 \ge 19$
Joseph Liouville subsequently showed that:
- $\map g 4 \le 53$
Hardy and Littlewood showed that all sufficiently large numbers are the sum of at most $19$ fourth powers.
Finally it was shown in $1986$ by Ramachandran Balasubramanian, Jean-Marc Deshouillers and François Dress that $\map g 4 \le 19$.
Thus:
- $\map g 4 = 19$
and so Waring's claim has been shown to be true.
Sources
- 1986: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Numbers ... (previous) ... (next): $19$
- 1997: David Wells: Curious and Interesting Numbers (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): $19$
- 1998: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Waring's problem
- 2008: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (4th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Waring's problem
- 2021: Richard Earl and James Nicholson: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Mathematics (6th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Waring's problem