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Number Theory Seminar

Event Type
Seminar/Symposium
Sponsor
Department of Mathematics
Location
Altgeld Hall 145
Date
Sep 30, 2025   11:00 - 11:50 am  
Speaker
Kyle Pratt (Brigham Young University)
Contact
Yuan Liu
E-Mail
yyyliu@illinois.edu
Views
19
Originating Calendar
Number Theory Seminar Calendar

Title: Diophantine problems with perfect powers

Abstract: Many Diophantine equations feature perfect powers in an essential way. For instance, the famous Catalan conjecture (proved by Mih$\breve{\text{a}}$ilescu) asserts that the only solution to $x^m-y^n=1$ in positive integers $x,y,m,n$ with $m,n \geq 2$ is $(x,y,m,n) = (3,2,2,3)$. In this talk, I discuss some recent work on other Diophantine problems involving perfect powers. In particular, I will focus on Lebesgue--Nagell equations, and a conjecture of Erd\H{o}s concerning when products of terms in an arithmetic progression can form a perfect power.

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