It is well known that every positive integer is the sum of at most four perfect squares (including $1$).
But which positive integers are not the sum of four non-zero perfect squares ($1$ is still allowed as a perfect square) ?
I showed that the numbers $2^k$ , $2^k\cdot 3$ and $2^k\cdot 7$ with odd positive integer $k$ have this property. I checked the numbers upto $10^4$ and above $41$, no examples , other than those of the mentioned forms , occured. So my question is whether additional positive integers with the desired property exist.
Answer
page 140 in Conway's little book,
$$ 1,3,5,9,11,17,29,41, \; 2 \cdot 4^m \; , \; 6 \cdot 4^m \; , \; 14 \cdot 4^m \; . $$
The proof is on the same page, with preparatory material in the previous few pages.
The first detail: any number $3 \pmod 8$ is the sum of three squares, meanwhile they must be odd squares, therefore nonzero. The square of any number that is divisible by $4$ becomes $0 \pmod 8.$ As a result, any number $6 \pmod 8$ is the sum of three squares, as $ (2A)^2 + B^2 + C^2,$ where $A,B,C$ must be odd squares, therefore nonzero.
10 June: Second detail: if $x^2 + y^2 + z^2 \equiv 0 \pmod 4,$ then $x,y,z$ are all even. This means that $12 \pmod{32}$ is the sum of three nonzero squares. Same for $24 \pmod{32}$
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