Generalized taxicab number

Smallest number expressable as the sum of j numbers to the kth power in n ways
Unsolved problem in mathematics:
Does there exist any number that can be expressed as a sum of two positive fifth powers in at least two different ways, i.e., a 5 + b 5 = c 5 + d 5 {\displaystyle a^{5}+b^{5}=c^{5}+d^{5}} ?

In number theory, the generalized taxicab number Taxicab(k, j, n) is the smallest number — if it exists — that can be expressed as the sum of j numbers to the kth positive power in n different ways. For k = 3 and j = 2, they coincide with taxicab number.

T a x i c a b ( 1 , 2 , 2 ) = 4 = 1 + 3 = 2 + 2 T a x i c a b ( 2 , 2 , 2 ) = 50 = 1 2 + 7 2 = 5 2 + 5 2 T a x i c a b ( 3 , 2 , 2 ) = 1729 = 1 3 + 12 3 = 9 3 + 10 3 {\displaystyle {\begin{aligned}\mathrm {Taxicab} (1,2,2)&=4=1+3=2+2\\\mathrm {Taxicab} (2,2,2)&=50=1^{2}+7^{2}=5^{2}+5^{2}\\\mathrm {Taxicab} (3,2,2)&=1729=1^{3}+12^{3}=9^{3}+10^{3}\end{aligned}}}

The latter example is 1729, as first noted by Ramanujan.

Euler showed that

T a x i c a b ( 4 , 2 , 2 ) = 635318657 = 59 4 + 158 4 = 133 4 + 134 4 . {\displaystyle \mathrm {Taxicab} (4,2,2)=635318657=59^{4}+158^{4}=133^{4}+134^{4}.}

However, Taxicab(5, 2, n) is not known for any n ≥ 2:
No positive integer is known that can be written as the sum of two 5th powers in more than one way, and it is not known whether such a number exists.[1]

See also

  • Cabtaxi number

References

  1. ^ Guy, Richard K. (2004). Unsolved Problems in Number Theory (Third ed.). New York, New York, USA: Springer-Science+Business Media, Inc. ISBN 0-387-20860-7.
  • Ekl, Randy L. (1998). "New results in equal sums of like powers". Math. Comp. 67 (223): 1309–1315. doi:10.1090/S0025-5718-98-00979-X. MR 1474650.
  • Generalised Taxicab Numbers and Cabtaxi Numbers
  • Taxicab Numbers - 4th powers
  • Taxicab numbers by Walter Schneider