Tuesday, 1 September 2026

Exercise (8.1).17

Find all four different representations of $1105= 5 × 13 × 17$ as a sum of two squares.


We will use the Conversion Identity (8.1):

$$ (a^2 + b^2) (c^2 + d^2) = (ac− bd)^2 + (ad + bc)^2 $$


We first note that each prime factor 5, 13, and 17 are congruent to 1 modulo 4, so 1105 can be written as the sum of two squares.

We also note that

$ 5 = 2^2 + 1^2 $

$ 13 = 3^2 + 2^2 $

$ 17 = 4^2 + 1^2 $


Since there are 3 factors, the conversion identity becomes:

$$ \begin{align} (a^2 + b^2) (c^2 + d^2)(e^2 + f^2) & = ((ac− bd)^2 + (ad + bc)^2)(e^2 + f^2) \\ \\ & = (A^2 +B^2)(e^2 + f^2)  \\ \\ & = (Ae -  Bf)^2 + (Af+Be)^2 \end{align} $$

where $A = (ac− bd)$ and $B = (ad + bc)$.

This could be four different sum of squares by 

  • swapping $(ac− bd)$ for $(bd-ac)$ which requires swapping $(a^2 + b^2)$ for $(b^2 + a^2)$, and $(c^2 + d^2)$ for $(d^2 + c^2)$.
  • swapping $(Ae -  Bf)$ for $(Ae -  Bf)$ which requires swapping $(A^2 +B^2)$ for $(B^2 +A^2)$, and $(e^2 + f^2)$ for $(f^2 + e^2)$,

The following table shows these calculations.

productabcdA = (ac − bd)B = (ad + bc)ef(Ae-Bf)(Af+Be)(Ae-Bf)^2+(Af+Be)^2
5 x 13213247419321105
5 x 1312237-41423241105
5 X 17214176329321105
5 X 1712146-7233341105
13 x 1732411011219321105
13 x 17231411-101231121105


We can read off the four distinct combinations:

$$ \begin{align} 1105 & = 32^2 + 9^2 \\ \\ 1105 & = 24^2 + 23^2 \\ \\ 1105 & = 33^2 + 4^2 \\ \\ 1005 & = 31^2 + 12^2   \end{align} $$