For three centuries, mathematicians have been trying to find a proof for Fermat's last theorem - now Andrew Wiles has done it. Given that there are infinitely many possible numbers to check it was quite a claim, but Fermat. THE PROOF OF FERMAT’S LAST THEOREM Spring 2003. Ii INTRODUCTION. This book will describe the recent proof of Fermat’s Last The-orem by Andrew Wiles, aided. I know that professor Andrew Wiles discovered his proof of Fermat's Last Theorem in 1995. One of my friends is looking for a text which provides his proof. I know that the proof is very complicated and uses difficult methods to get the solution, but I hope that you can give me the name of a text which contains it (or a link to the proof or such a text:)) I would also like to know what prerequisites are needed to study/understand the proof in detail? Furthermore, has anyone else discovered another proof since Wiles, or is Andrew Wiles' proof the only known solution? There are very few professional mathematicians who have read and understood all of Wiles proof. The pre-requisites go a long way beyond college level mathematics. Looking at Wiles paper is not a good way to learn about this problem. If you're interested in number theory, you could begin by studying Hardy and Wright: 'An introduction to theory of numbers'. Some special cases of Fermat's last theorem were solved in the nineteenth century, and you should see their proofs in an introduction to algebraic number theory. The very minimal prerequisites for understanding the proof of Fermat's Last Theorem would include knowledge of algebraic number theory, modular forms, elliptic curves, Galois theory, Galois cohomology, and representation theory. A considerable amount of higher mathematics is needed to understand these areas in detail, including a very strong background in (advanced) abstract algebra. If/once you are comfortable with the necessary background material and are still interested in what I hear is a very good reference on the proof and its methods, check out by Silverman, Stevens, and Cornell. The text is at intended for professional mathematicians, so it certainly won't be an easy read, but if one has a strong enough background and enough tenacity, one could certainly make it through. Reading and understanding this book would be a great help in making it through Wiles' proof. Fermat's Last Theorem was until recently the most famous unsolved problem in mathematics. In the mid-17th century Pierre de Fermat wrote that no value of n greater than 2 could satisfy the equation ' x n + y n = z n,' where n, x, y and z are all integers. What Is Fermat's Last TheoremHe claimed that he had a simple proof of this theorem, but no record of it has ever been found. Ever since that time, countless professional and amateur mathematicians have tried to find a valid proof (and wondered whether Fermat really ever had one). Then in 1994, Andrew Wiles of Princeton University announced that he had discovered a proof while working on a more general problem in geometry. Grundman, associate professor of mathematics at Byrn Mawr College, assesses the state of that proof: 'I think it's safe to say that, yes, mathematicians are now satisfied with the proof of Fermat's Last Theorem. Few, however, would refer to the proof as being Wiles's alone. The proof is the work of many people. Wiles made a significant contribution and was the one who pulled the work together into what he thought was a proof. Riemann HypothesisAlthough his original attempt turned out to have an error in it, Wiles and his associate Richard Taylor were able to correct the problem, and so now there is what we believe to be a correct proof of Fermat's Last Theorem. 'The proof we now know required the development of an entire field of mathematics that was unknown in Fermat's time. The theorem itself is very easy to state and so may seem deceptively simple; you do not need to know a lot of mathematics to understand the problem. It turns out, however, that to the best of our knowledge, you do need to know a lot of mathematics in order to solve it. It is still an open question whether there may be a proof of Fermat's Last Theorem that involves only mathematics and methods that were known in Fermat's time. We have no way of answering unless someone finds one.'
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