Approximating Markov’s equation
John
Markov numbers are integer solutions to x² + y² + z² = 3xyz. The Wikipedia article on Markov numbers mentions that Don Zagier studied Markov numbers by looking the approximating equation x² + y² + z² = 3xyz + 4/9 which is equivalent to f(x) + f(y) = f(z) where f(t) is defined as arccosh(3t/2). It wasn’t clear to me why the […] The post Approximating Markov’s equation first appeared on John D. Cook .