Let f be a polynomial with coefficients in the
ring O of integers of a number field. Suppose that f induces a
permutation on the residue fields O/p for infinitely many
non-zero prime ideals p of O. Then Schur's conjecture,
namely that f is a composition of linear and Dickson polynomials,
has been proved by M. Fried. All the present versions of the proof
use Weil's bound on the number of points of absolutely irreducible
curves over finite fields in order to get a Galois theoretic
translation and to finish the proof by means of finite group theory.
This note replaces the use of this deep result by elementary
arguments.
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