Integers that are sums of two rational sixth powers

Abstract

We prove that $164634913$ is the smallest positive integer that is a sum of two rational sixth powers but not a sum of two integer sixth powers. If $C_{k}$ is the curve $x^{6} + y^{6} = k$, we use the existence of morphisms from $C_{k}$ to elliptic curves, together with the Mordell-Weil sieve, to rule out the existence of rational points on $C_{k}$ for various $k$.