English

A counterexample to the Pellian equation conjecture of Mordell

Number Theory 2024-06-13 v2

Abstract

Let d2d\geq 2 be a squarefree integer, let ω{d,1+d2}\omega\in\{\sqrt{d},\frac{1+\sqrt{d}}{2}\} be such that Z[ω]\mathbb{Z}[\omega] is the ring of algebraic integers of the real quadratic number field Q(d)\mathbb{Q}(\sqrt{d}), let ε>1\varepsilon>1 be the fundamental unit of Z[ω]\mathbb{Z}[\omega] and let xx and yy be the unique nonnegative integers with ε=x+yω\varepsilon=x+y\omega. In this note, we extend and study the list of known squarefree integers d2d\geq 2, for which yy is divisible by dd (cf. OEIS A135735). As a byproduct, we present a counterexample to a conjecture of L. J. Mordell.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2402.09827,
  title  = {A counterexample to the Pellian equation conjecture of Mordell},
  author = {Andreas Reinhart},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2402.09827},
  year   = {2024}
}