The Real Number n-Degree Pythagorean Theorem

Abstract

This paper extends the Pythagorean Theorem to positive and negative real exponents to take the form a^n + b^n = c^n and makes use of the definition gamma = b/a >= 1. For the case of n in the set of positive real numbers, n greater than or equal to 1 is necessary for the vertex angle to be real, and there are no restrictions on gamma beyond its definition. However, for n in the set of negative reals, two significant restrictions that are necessary for a^n + b^n = c^n to yield real vertex angles have been discovered by this work: 1 <= gamma < 2, and n cannot exceed a critical value which is gamma-dependent. Additionally, the areas of the associated triangles have been determined as well as the conditions for those areas to be maxima or minima.