THE BEAL CONJECTURE AND PRIZE

BEAL'S CONJECTURE: If Ax +By = Cz , where A, B, C, x, y and z are positive integers and x, y and z are all greater than 2, then A, B and C must have a common prime factor.

THE BEAL PRIZE. The conjecture and prize was announced in the December 1997 issue of the Notices of the American Mathematical Society. Since that time Andy Beal has increased the amount of the prize for his conjecture. The prize is now this: $1,000,000 for either a proof or a counterexample of his conjecture. The prize money is being held by the American Mathematical Society until it is awarded. In the meantime the interest is being used to fund some AMS activities and the annual Erdos Memorial Lecture.

CONDITIONS FOR WINNING THE PRIZE. The rules and regulations for winning the prize may be found at the American Mathematical Society website: Beal Prize

�

LINKS TO ARTICLES ABOUT THE CONJECTURE AND PRIZE

The Beal Conjecture

Notices American Mathematical Society, December 1997

Manchester Guardian January 8, 1998

A computer study has been carried out by Peter Norvig who is Chief of the Computational Sciences Division at the NASA Ames Research Center. The program and results may be found at

Beal's Conjecture: A Search for Counterexamples