English

Congruence Properties of Indices of Triangular Numbers Multiple of Other Triangular Numbers

General Mathematics 2021-03-05 v1

Abstract

It is known that, for any positive non-square integer multiplier kk, there is an infinity of multiples of triangular numbers which are triangular numbers. We analyze the congruence properties of the indices ξ\xi of triangular numbers that are multiples of other triangular numbers. We show that the remainders in the congruence relations of ξ\xi modulo k come always in pairs whose sum always equal (k1)\left(k-1\right), always include 0 and (k1)\left(k-1\right), and only 0 and (k1)\left(k-1\right) if kk is prime, or an odd power of a prime, or an even square plus one or an odd square minus one or minus two. If the multiplier kk is twice the triangular number of nn, the set of remainders includes also nn and (n21)\left(n^{2}-1\right) and if kk has integer factors, the set of remainders include multiples of a factor following certain rules. Finally, algebraic expressions are found for remainders in function of kk and its factors. Several exceptions are noticed and superseding rules exist between various rules and expressions of remainders. This approach allows to eliminate in numerical searches those (kυ)\left(k-\upsilon\right) values of ξi\xi_{i} that are known not to provide solutions, where υ\upsilon is the even number of remainders. The gain is typically in the order of k/υk/\upsilon, with υk\upsilon\ll k for large values of kk.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2103.03019,
  title  = {Congruence Properties of Indices of Triangular Numbers Multiple of Other Triangular Numbers},
  author = {Vladimir Pletser},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2103.03019},
  year   = {2021}
}

Comments

9 pages. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:2102.13494