Problem:
Determine the second smallest positive integer such that is a perfect square.
, 2019
Solution
Solution:
. Note that or , and since is not a perfect square for , we must have and for some integers and . The first equation is a variant of Pell's equation, which (either by brute-forcing small cases or using the known recurrence) gives solutions Incidentally, both smallest solutions and allow an integer solution to the second equation, so is the second smallest integer that satisfies the condition.
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