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Václav Šimerka: quadratic forms and factorization

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2013

F. Lemmermeyer*
Affiliation:
Mörikeweg 1,73489 Jagstzell,Germany email hb3@ix.urz.uni-heidelberg.de

Abstract

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In this article we show that the Czech mathematician Václav Šimerka discovered the factorization of $\frac{1}{9} (1{0}^{17} - 1)$ using a method based on the class group of binary quadratic forms more than 120 years before Shanks and Schnorr developed similar algorithms. Šimerka also gave the first examples of what later became known as Carmichael numbers.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2013 

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