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I am doing a number theory course from scratch right now, and this question here has put a hault on my journey.

Let $a, b, c, d$ be non-zero integers such that $ab = cd$, prove that $a^2 + b^2 + c^2 + d^2$ is composite.

I started off really well on this, checking the pairity. Solved all the cases except one.

Let N = $a^2 + b^2 + c^2 + d^2$.

If there are an even number of odd numbers in {$a, b, c, d$} we get $N$ to be even. And since $N \ge 4$, trivially, its composite.

If we have three odds and only one even in {$a, b, c, d$}, one of {$ab, cd$} would be even and the other would be odd, which does not satisfy the given $ab = cd$ condition.

So the only case left to do is when exactly one of {$a, b, c, d$} is odd and the rest are even. But I don't see the way out. Thanks in advance.

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    The example $(a,b,c,d)=(4,6,24,1)$ which yields $629=17\times 37$ suggests that simple congruences won't help. Maybe an algebraic factoring exists. Not sure why you are stressing a connection to primes. – lulu Sep 08 '22 at 11:52
  • @lulu Because this question is under the primes section of the book I am following. And proving something is not prime is related to primes. – Nick Larry Sep 08 '22 at 13:14

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