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21 votes
1 answer
740 views

Does $A-A=\mathbb Q$ hold for $A=\{x^4+y^4:\ x,y\in\mathbb Q\}$?

Let $A=\{x^4+y^4:\ x,y\in\mathbb Q\}$. Then $$A-A:=\{a-b:\ a,b\in A\}=\{u^4+v^4-x^4-y^4:\ u,v,x,y\in\mathbb Q\}.$$ Motivated by Question 415482, here I ask the following question. Question. Is it true ...
0 votes
0 answers
80 views

Solution modulo $9$ of certain linear equation implies triviality modulo $3$

Question: Let $k \geq 2$ and $r \geq 4$ be two natural numbers. We are given eight integers $\nu_{ij} \geq 0$ for every $1 \leq i \leq k$ and $1 \leq j \leq r$ such that the following two conditions ...
7 votes
2 answers
604 views

Density version of the Erdős-Graham conjecture

In 2003 E. S. Croot [Ann. of Math. 157(2)(2003), 545-556] proved the Erdős-Graham Conjecture which states that if $\{2,3,\ldots\}$ is partitioned into finitely many subsets then one of the subsets ...
3 votes
0 answers
511 views

Regarding the Challenge Problem in 3Blue1Brown's most recent video: Will $\binom{x}{4}+\binom{x}{2}+1=2^k$ for $x>10$? [duplicate]

Link to the video here with timestamp In deriving the formula for regions of Moser's Circle Problem, it observed that the formula $$ F(x)=\binom{x}{4}+\binom{x}{2}+1 $$ achieves values that are equal ...
2 votes
1 answer
268 views

System of two linear Diophantine equations

Let $n\in\mathbb{N}$ be a positive integer. Denote by $f(n)$ the number of integral solutions of the following system $$ \left\lbrace\begin{array}{l} \sum_{i=1}^nx_i = 3n; \\ \sum_{i=1}^n (2i-1)x_i = ...
6 votes
4 answers
627 views

Request for an exact formula related to a partition in number theory

The Frobenius equation is the Diophantine equation $$ a_1 x_1+\dots+a_n x_n=b,$$ where the $a_j$ are positive integers, $b$ is an integer, and a solution $$(x_1, \dots, x_n)$$ must consist of non-...
2 votes
1 answer
179 views

Only trivial solution to a pair of constrained linear diophantine equations

Given positive integer $n$, we are looking for a set of $n$ positive integers $a_i$. The following linear integer program must have only the trivial integer solution of all ones. $0 \le x_i \le \frac{...
1 vote
1 answer
144 views

On parametrization of a type of unimodular $2\times2$ integral matrix

A matrix $\begin{bmatrix}w&x\\y&z\end{bmatrix}\in\mathbb Z^{2\times 2}$ is unimodular if $$|wz-xy|=1$$ holds. Is there a parametrization of such matrices with $|w||z|-xy=1$ $$w,z<0<\max(...
18 votes
1 answer
1k views

When is $(q^k-1)/(q-1)$ a perfect square?

Let $q$ be a prime power and $k>1$ a positive integer. For what values of $k$ and $q$ is the number $(q^k-1)/(q-1)$ a perfect square, that is the square of another integer? Is the number of such ...
0 votes
0 answers
266 views

Is there a permutation $\tau\in S_n$ with $\tau(1)^{\tau(2)}+\cdots+\tau(n-1)^{\tau(n)}+\tau(n)^{\tau(1)}$ a square?

Let $n>1$ be an integer, and let $S_n$ be the symmetric group of all the permutatins of $\{1,\ldots,n\}$. I'm curious whether there is a permutation $\tau\in S_n$ such that $$\tau(1)^{\tau(2)}+\...
27 votes
1 answer
2k views

Solutions to $\binom{n}{5} = 2 \binom{m}{5}$

In Finite Mathematics by Lial et al. (10th ed.), problem 8.3.34 says: On National Public Radio, the Weekend Edition program posed the following probability problem: Given a certain number of ...
8 votes
1 answer
5k views

Number of integer solutions of a linear equation under constraints

How many positive integer solutions of $$\sum_{i=1}^{k}x_i = N$$ for some positive integer $N$ given the constraints $n_i\leq x_i\leq m_i$ for $i=1,\ldots,k$, where $n_i$ and $m_i$ are positive ...
1 vote
1 answer
237 views

Is it true that $\sum_{k=m}^n\frac{\sigma(k)}k\not\in\mathbb Z$ for all derangements $\sigma\in S_n$ and $1\le m\le n$?

Let $S_n$ be the symmetric group of all the permutations of $\{1,\ldots,n\}$. Recall that a permutation $\sigma\in S_n$ is called a derangemnt if $\sigma(k)\not=k$ for all $k=1,\ldots,n$. Motivated ...
21 votes
1 answer
1k views

Permutations $\pi\in S_n$ with $\sum_{k=1}^n\frac1{k+\pi(k)}=1$

Let $S_n$ be the symmetric group of all the permutations of $\{1,\ldots,n\}$. Motivated by Question 315568 (http://mathoverflow.net/questions/315568), here I pose the following question. QUESTION: ...
1 vote
1 answer
182 views

Derangements and unit fractions

Motivated by a recent question of Zhi-Wei Sun and its nice answer by Zhao Shen, here are two related questions. Let $S_n$ be the group of permutations on $\{1, 2, \ldots, n\}$. a. For each $n \ge ...
4 votes
0 answers
160 views

Is there a permutation $\pi\in S_n$ with $\sum\limits_{0<k<n}\frac1{\pi(k)^2-\pi(k+1)^2}=0$ for each $n>7$?

Let $S_n$ be the symmetric group of all permutations of $\{1,\ldots,n\}$. QUESTION: Is it true that for each $n=8,9,\ldots$ we have $$\sum_{0<k<n}\frac1{\pi(k)^2-\pi(k+1)^2}=0\tag{$*$}$$ for ...
7 votes
0 answers
251 views

Can the partition function $p(n)$ take perfect power values?

Recall that the perfect powers are those integers $m^k$ with $k,m\in\{2,3,\ldots\}$. I don't consider $0$ or $1$ as a perfect power. Y. Bugeaud, M. Mignotte and S. Siksek [Annals of Math., 2006] ...
7 votes
1 answer
480 views

Imprimitive solutions to $x^2+y^3=z^7$

Poonen, Schaefer, & Stoll give the primitive solutions to $x^2+y^3=z^7$: $$ (±1, −1, 0), (±1, 0, 1), ±(0, 1, 1), (±3, −2, 1), (±71, −17, 2),\\ (±2213459, 1414, 65), (±15312283, 9262, 113), (±...
13 votes
7 answers
3k views

Special arithmetic progressions involving perfect squares

Prove that there are infinitely many positive integers $a$, $b$, $c$ that are consecutive terms of an arithmetic progression and also satisfy the condition that $ab+1$, $bc+1$, $ca+1$ are all perfect ...
6 votes
3 answers
2k views

References on techniques for solving equations with discontinuous functions such as floor and ceiling?

Here I describe the sort of reference I'm after with a motivating example. I am not seeking solutions to my equations on this forum; I'm quite happy to do that myself. Rather, I'm asking for some good ...