2021/10/04 by Anderson, Laura, Chahal, Jasbir S., Top, Jaap
#11-03 #12-03 #FOS: Mathematics #History and Overview (math.HO)
paper · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2110.01355
This exposition reviews what exactly Gauss asserted and what did he prove in the last chapter of \sl Disquisitiones Arithmeticae about dividing the circle into a given number of equal parts. In other words, what did Gauss claim and actually prove concerning the roots of unity and the construction of a regular polygon with a given number of sides. Some history of Gauss's solution is briefly recalled, and in particular many relevant classical references are provided which we believe deserve to be better known.