Well, the first reference Google turned up is considerably more obscure (by LATimes standards). I'm trying to find an LAPD/FBI person who knows what Euler's totient function is! BTW, I've asked one of my friends, who is an editor at the LATimes, to find out for me what the theorem really was, and how they recognized it. http://primes.utm.edu/glossary/page.php?sort=EulersTheorem Euler's Theorem states that if gcd(a,n) = 1, then a^phi(n) = 1 (mod n). Here phi(n) is Euler's totient function: the number of integers in {1, 2, . . ., n-1} which are relatively prime to n. When n is a prime, this theorem is just Fermat's little theorem. ---- At 12:11 PM 9/18/03 -0400, Michael Kleber wrote:
The LA Times article declined to elaborate on what "Euler's Theorem" said, or what its significance was. ... "A math formula Euler's Theorem was spray painted on one of the SUVs as a way of distinguishing the participants' work. "We thought it would be nice to have something a little kooky just in case this happened," he said, adding that he finds the formula "beautiful."
From context, I'd guess e^(i pi) = -1.
--Michael Kleber kleber@brandeis.edu