Re: [math-fun] 24 puzzle

On 4/11/08, Dan Asimov <dasimov@earthlink.net> wrote:

There is no number > 24 for which the corresponding statement is true.

(This is also not hard to prove, but I wonder if there is a deep underlying reason it is true.)

I think the reason is that for p > 2, exactly half the elements of Zp are quadratic residues. 3 is the largets prime for which (p-1)/2 = 1.

--Dan

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