# Difference between revisions of "Fermat's Last Theorem"

Fermat's Last Theorem is a long-unproved theorem stating that for non-zero integers $\displaystyle a,b,c,n$ with $n \geq 3$, there are no solutions to the equation: $\displaystyle a^n + b^n = c^n$

## History

Fermat's last theorem was proposed by Pierre Fermat in the margin of his book Arithmetica. The note in the margin (when translated) read: "It is impossible for a cube to be the sum of two cubes, a fourth power to be the sum of two fourth powers, or in general for any number that is a power greater than the second to be the sum of two like powers. I have discovered a truly marvelous demonstration of this proposition that this margin is too narrow to contain." Despite Fermat's claim that a simple proof existed, the theorem wasn't proven until Andrew Wiles did so in 1993. Interestingly enough, Wiles's proof was much more complicated than anything Fermat could have produced himself.