[Math] First correct proof of FLT for exponent 3

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It is well known that Euler gave the first proof of FLT ($x^n + y^n = z^n$ has
no nontrivial integral solutions for $n > 2$) for exponent $n=3$, but that his proof
had gaps (which are not as easily closed as Weil seems to suggest in his excellent
Number Theory – An Approach through History). Later proofs by Legendre and Kausler
had the same gap, and in fact I do not know any correct proof published before Kummer's proof for all regular primes. Gauss had a beautiful proof, with the 3-isogeny clearly visible, which was published posthumously by Dedekind, and of course Dirichlet could have given a correct proof (he gave one for $n = 5$ in his very first article but apparently did not dare to provoke Legendre by suggesting his proof in Theorie des Nombres was incomplete) but did not.

The problem in the early proofs is this: if $p^2 + 3q^2 = z^3$, one has to show that
$p$ and $q$ can be read off from $p + q \sqrt{-3} = (a + b\sqrt{-3})^3$. The standard proofs use unique factorization in ${\mathbb Z}[\zeta_3]$ or the equivalent fact that there is one class of binary quadratic forms with discriminant $-3$; Weil uses a (sophisticated, but elementary) counting argument.

I wonder whether there is any correct proof for the cubic Fermat equation before Kummer's
proof for all regular prime exponents (1847-1850)?

Best Answer

I had a look at Paulo Ribenboim's "13 lectures on Fermat's last Theorem" (Springer Verlag, 1979). In section 3 of Chapter III, he discusses (with full bibliographical details) the controversy around Euler's proof, and then provides a proof, using purely elementary number theory, which he attributes to Euler.