Thread: Fermat's Last Theorem

Originally Posted by Ocifer

What am I missing? FLT has been proven. Hence the T. Do words mean ANYTHING? I knew this problem was a fetish for mathematicians, but isn't it over now?

Actually, FLT is a special case in that it was known as FLT even before there was a public proof of it, and since Fermat's purported private proof was probably wrong, it was almost certainly only a conjecture prior to that public proof. Anyway, what's your point? Branden Holmes is clearly aware that it has already been proven, so this is just an exercise in C++ programming.

Originally Posted by laserlight

Actually, FLT is a special case in that it was known as FLT even before there was a public proof of it, and since Fermat's purported private proof was probably wrong, it was almost certainly only a conjecture prior to that public proof. Anyway, what's your point? Branden Holmes is clearly aware that it has already been proven, so this is just an exercise in C++ programming.

I just wanted to make sure that the OP understood that he is trying something impossible. I wasn't sure he actually understood that it has proven, and what that implies. Given that you still see code about it on the internet, and that such programs were written into the 80s and 90s, there is room for confusion.

I'm sorry, though, I guess I am guilty of being pedantic about his phrasing when I got lazy with mine. You do have a point. My statement

"FLT has been proven. Hence the T" would have been entirely fatuous in the 1980s. I'm studying math now so I understand the difference between theorem and conjecture, and that's the place the statement came from. I do remember reading in Andrew Wiles' book about its misclassification as a theorem for ages.

I was just expressing amazement that threads like this one aren't bombarded with condescension by the usual crowd, when I've seen far less anger the hounds.

EDIT: though that's not to say we need more condescension. Really don't want to start a thread-hijack fight. Pretty sure laserlight has helped me out before, just was having a rough day when I posted the original comment.