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Showing posts from June, 2014

### The Chakravala Algorithm in R

A class of analysis that has piqued the interest of mathematicians across millennia are Diophantine equations. Diophantine equations are polynomials with multiple variables and seek integer solutions. A special case of Diophantine equations is the Pell's equation. The name is a bit of a misnomer as Euler mistakenly attributed it to the mathematician John Pell. The problem seeks integer solutions to the polynomial
$$x^{2} - Dy^{2} = 1$$
Several ancient mathematicians have attempted to study and find generic solutions to Pell's equation. The best known algorithm is the Chakravala algorithm discovered by Bhaskara circa 1114 AD. Bhaskara implicitly credits Brahmagupta (circa 598 AD) for it initial discovery, though some credit it to Jayadeva too. Several Sanskrit words used to describe the algorithm appear to have changed in the 500 years between the two implying other contributors. The Chakravala technique is simple and implementing it in any programming …