Schinzel Circle
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In the
geometry of numbers Geometry of numbers is the part of number theory which uses geometry for the study of algebraic numbers. Typically, a ring of algebraic integers is viewed as a lattice in \mathbb R^n, and the study of these lattices provides fundamental information ...
, Schinzel's theorem is the following statement: It was originally proved by and named after
Andrzej Schinzel Andrzej Bobola Maria Schinzel (5 April 1937 – 21 August 2021) was a Polish mathematician studying mainly number theory. Education Schinzel received an MSc in 1958 at Warsaw University, Ph.D. in 1960 from Institute of Mathematics of the Pol ...
.


Proof

Schinzel proved this theorem by the following construction. If n is an even number, with n=2k, then the circle given by the following equation passes through exactly n points: \left(x-\frac\right)^2 + y^2 = \frac 5^. This circle has radius 5^/2, and is centered at the point (\tfrac12,0). For instance, the figure shows a circle with radius \sqrt 5/2 through four integer points. As an equation of integers, \left(2x-1\right)^2 + (2y)^2 = 5^ is writing 5^ as a sum of two squares, where the first is odd and the second is even. There are exactly 4k ways to write 5^ as a sum of two squares, and half are in the order (odd, even) by symmetry. For example, 5^1=(\pm 1)^2 + (\pm 2)^2, so we have 2x-1=1 or 2x-1=-1, and 2y=2 or 2y=-2, which produces the four points pictured. On the other hand, if n is odd, with n=2k+1, then the circle given by the following equation passes through exactly n points: \left(x-\frac\right)^2 + y^2 = \frac 5^. This circle has radius 5^k/3, and is centered at the point (\tfrac13,0).


Properties

The circles generated by Schinzel's construction are not the smallest possible circles passing through the given number of integer points, but they have the advantage that they are described by an explicit equation.


References

{{reflist, refs= {{citation , last = Honsberger , first = Ross , author-link = Ross Honsberger , contribution = Schinzel's theorem , pages = 118–121 , publisher = Mathematical Association of America , series = Dolciani Mathematical Expositions , title = Mathematical Gems I , volume = 1 , year = 1973 {{mathworld, urlname=SchinzelCircle, title=Schinzel Circle, mode=cs2 {{citation , last = Schinzel , first = André , author-link = Andrzej Schinzel , journal = L'Enseignement mathématique , language = fr , mr = 98059 , pages = 71–72 , title = Sur l'existence d'un cercle passant par un nombre donné de points aux coordonnées entières , volume = 4 , year = 1958 Theorems about circles Geometry of numbers