English

Properties of solutions to Pell's equation over the polynomial ring

Number Theory 2021-01-29 v1

Abstract

In the classical theory, a famous by-product of the continued fraction expansion of quadratic irrational numbers D\sqrt{D} is the solution to Pell's equation for DD. It is well-known that, once an integer solution to Pell's equation exists, we can use it to generate all other solutions (un,vn)n\Zee(u_n,v_n)_{n\in\Zee}. Our object of interest is the polynomial version of Pell's equation, where the integers are replaced by polynomials with complex coefficients. We then investigate the factors of vn(t)v_n(t). In particular, we show that over the complex polynomials, there are only finitely many values of nn for which vn(t)v_n(t) has a repeated root. Restricting our analysis to \Qee[t]\Qee[t], we give an upper bound on the number of "new" factors of vn(t)v_n(t) of degree at most NN. Furthermore, we show that all "new" linear rational factors of vn(t)v_n(t) can be found when n3n\leq 3, and all "new" quadratic rational factors when n6n\leq 6.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2101.12180,
  title  = {Properties of solutions to Pell's equation over the polynomial ring},
  author = {Nikoleta Kalaydzhieva},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2101.12180},
  year   = {2021}
}