All open problems
Source labels openChecked July 26, 2026

WikipediaNumber theory

Lander, Parkin, and Selfridge Conjecture

The Lander–Parkin–Selfridge conjecture: if the sum of nn positive integer kk-th powers equals the sum of mm positive integer kk-th powers, with all values on the left distinct from all values on the right, then n+mkn + m \geq k.

Mathematical statement

The Lander–Parkin–Selfridge conjecture: if the sum of nn positive integer kk-th powers equals the sum of mm positive integer kk-th powers, with all values on the left distinct from all values on the right, then n+mkn + m \geq k.

Formally, for positive integers k,n,mNk, n, m \in \mathbb{N} and sequences x:{0,,n1}Nx : \{0, \ldots, n-1\} \to \mathbb{N} and y:{0,,m1}Ny : \{0, \ldots, m-1\} \to \mathbb{N} with xi>0x_i > 0, yj>0y_j > 0, and xiyjx_i \neq y_j for all i,ji, j, if i=0n1xik=j=0m1yjk,\sum_{i=0}^{n-1} x_i^k = \sum_{j=0}^{m-1} y_j^k, then kn+mk \leq n + m.

Statement source: Wikipedia statement material

Statement terms: Source-specific

Source-specific terms. Therefore does not assert reuse rights beyond attributed display.

Statement artifacts, not proofs

These records expose exact Lean propositions and statement-only wrappers. Defining a proposition does not supply a proof of it. A placeholder-bearing target also contains no proof. Elaboration checks syntax and types; it does not certify that a formalization perfectly captures every nuance of the informal problem.

Pinned Lean formulation 1

lander_parkin_selfridge

Canonical source
Complete statement target, proof intentionally absentLean 4
theorem lander_parkin_selfridge :     (k n m : ) (x : Fin n  ) (y : Fin m  ),      ( i, 0 < x i)  ( j, 0 < y j)       ( i j, x i  y j)       ∑ i, x i ^ k = ∑ j, y j ^ k       k  n + m := by  sorry
Statement source
Formal Conjectures
Lean version
v4.27.0
Placeholder
Present; no proof artifact
Source evidence
Pinned source index
Fidelity review
Community formulation

References