An unsolvable problem in number theory

Abstract

This paper presents several results whose common element is their connection with Hubert's tenth problem.1 The one that seems most striking (perhaps because it can be stated with a minimum of technical apparatus) is this: there does not exist an algorithm for determining whether or not a polynomial (in n variables) represents every integer.2In addition, the present paper (i) gives a simple characterization of the diophantine sets (of positive, non-negative, and arbitrary integers), and (ii) gives a rigorous proof of Myhill's theorem [6] that there is no decision method for statements of the form