
Problem 46
20 June 2003
It was proposed by Christian Goldbach that every odd composite number can be written as the sum of a prime and twice a square.
9 = 7 + 2
12
15 = 7 + 2
22
21 = 3 + 2
32
25 = 7 + 2
32
27 = 19 + 2
22
33 = 31 + 2
12
It turns out that the conjecture was false.
What is the smallest odd composite that cannot be written as the sum of a prime and twice a square?