Is it possible to express every positive integer congruent to modulo in the form , where , , are non-negative integers that do not share parity?
Solution
(*) Let be a Pythagorean triple of positive integers, , such that , , , and . Then every positive integer , that is divisible by , is the sum of three odd squares whose positive square roots are not congruent modulo .
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Consequently, a positive integer is expressible in the form for some non-negative integers that do not share parity.
The problem at hand is the special case where .
To prove (*), notice that , so it is not of the form , and is therefore a sum of three odd squares (Gauss-Legendre).
Write for some positive odd integers , and assume, without loss of generality, that , to write .
Since , the entries of one of the pairs of positive odd integers are not congruent modulo . This ends the proof.
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