Computing Pythagorean Triples

Abstract

Pythagorean triples are the positive integer solutions to the Pythagoras equation for right triangles, a2+b2 = c2. They have been studied for many years, many centuries in fact. In this short paper we present a method for computing Pythagorean triples in general, the first two cases of which go back at least to the early Pythagoreans (570-495 BCE), and to Plato (429-347 BCE). But the method has not been investigated as extensively as presented here. Several other approaches are also considered.