English

Number of solutions to a special type of unit equations in two variables

Number Theory 2020-08-20 v3

Abstract

For any fixed coprime positive integers a,ba,b and cc with min{a,b,c}>1\min\{a,b,c\}>1, we prove that the equation ax+by=cza^x+b^y=c^z has at most two solutions in positive integers x,yx,y and zz, except for one specific case which exactly gives three solutions. Our result is essentially sharp in the sense that there are infinitely many examples allowing the equation to have two solutions in positive integers. From the viewpoint of a well-known generalization of Fermat's equation, it is also regarded as a 3-variable generalization of the celebrated theorem of Bennett [M.A.Bennett, On some exponential equations of S.S.Pillai, Canad. J. Math. 53(2001), no.2, 897--922] which asserts that Pillai's type equation axby=ca^x-b^y=c has at most two solutions in positive integers xx and yy for any fixed positive integers a,ba,b and cc with min{a,b}>1\min\{a,b\}>1.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2006.15952,
  title  = {Number of solutions to a special type of unit equations in two variables},
  author = {Takafumi Miyazaki and István Pink},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2006.15952},
  year   = {2020}
}

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78 pages