English

The diophantine equation $(2^{k}-1)(b^{k}-1)=y^{q}$

Number Theory 2026-04-09 v3

Abstract

In this paper, we consider the exponential Diophantine equation (2k1)(bk1)=yq (2^k-1)(b^k-1)=y^q with k2k\ge 2, odd integer bb and an odd prime exponent qq and obtain effective upper bounds for qq in terms of bb. In particular, we show that qlog2(b+1)q\le \log_2(b+1) holds apart from a finite, explicitly determined set of exceptional pairs (b,q)(b,q) when 3b<1063\le b<10^6. As an application, we prove that the related equation (2k1)(bk1)=xn, (2^k-1)(b^k-1)=x^n, has no positive integer solution (k,x,n)(k,x,n) for several specific odd values of bb, including b{5,7,11,13,21,23,27,29}b\in\{5,7,11,13,21,23,27,29\}.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2512.00548,
  title  = {The diophantine equation $(2^{k}-1)(b^{k}-1)=y^{q}$},
  author = {Chang Liu and Bo He},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2512.00548},
  year   = {2026}
}

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10 pages