On the Ternary Purely Exponential Diophantine Equation
(ak)x + (bk)y =
((a + b)k)z for Prime Powers
a and b
Maohua Le
Institute of Mathematics
Lingnan Normal College
Zhanjiang, Guangdong 524048
China
Gökhan Soydan
Department of Mathematics
Bursa Uludağ University
16059 Bursa
Türkiye
Abstract:
Let k be a positive integer, and let a, b
be coprime positive integers
with a, b > 1. In this paper, using a combination of some elementary
number theory techniques with classical results on the Nagell-Ljunggren
equation, the Catalan equation, and some new properties of the Lucas
sequence, we prove that if k > 1 and a, b > 2
are both prime powers,
then the equation
(ak)x + (bk)y =
((a + b)k)z
has only one positive
integer solution: namely, (x, y, z) = (1, 1, 1). This proves some cases
of a conjecture of Yuan and Han.
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(Concerned with sequence
A000204.)
Received April 25 2023; revised versions received April 28 2023; August 15 2023; August 18 2023.
Published in Journal of Integer Sequences,
August 22 2023.
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