Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 November 2018
Let $p$ be a prime greater than or equal to 17 and congruent to 2 modulo 3. We use results of Beukers and Helou on Cauchy–Liouville–Mirimanoff polynomials to show that the intersection of the Fermat curve of degree $p$ with the line $X+Y=Z$ in the projective plane contains no algebraic points of degree $d$ with $3\le d\le 11$. We prove a result on the roots of these polynomials and show that, experimentally, they seem to satisfy the conditions of a mild extension of an irreducibility theorem of Pólya and Szegö. These conditions are conjecturally also necessary for irreducibility.