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In mathematics, a Wall-Sun-Sun prime is a certain kind of
prime number. A prime p > 5 is called a Wall-Sun-Sun prime if
p² divides
- F(p − (p|5)),
where F(n) is the n-th Fibonacci
number and (a|b) is the Legendre symbol of
a and b.
Wall-Sun-Sun primes are named after D.
D. Wall, Zhi Hong Sun and
Zhi Wei Sun; Z.H.Sun and Z.W.Sun
showed in 1992 that if the first case of Fermat's last theorem was false for a certain prime p, then p would have to be a
Wall-Sun-Sun prime. As a result, prior to Andrew Wiles' proof of Fermat's
last theorem, the search for Wall-Sun-Sun primes was also the search for a counterexample to this century-old conjecture.
No Wall-Sun-Sun primes are known to date; if any exist, they must be > 1014. It has been conjectured that there
are infinitely many Wall-Sun-Sun primes, but the conjecture remains unproven.
Also see
External links
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