Show that for infinitely many positive integers there exist pairwise distinct positive integers such that is the square of an integer.
, 2019
Solution
Letting , the conclusion is a straightforward consequence of the following two facts:
(1) For infinitely many positive integers there exist positive integers such that is the square of an integer, and ; and
(2) Given an integer , if are positive integers such that is the square of an integer, and for some index , , then there exists an integer such that is the square of an integer.
To prove (1), notice that, if are arbitrarily large positive integers, then is an arbitrarily large positive integer congruent to or modulo . Subtraction of a suitable number of 's then yields or , each of which is a square. Letting that suitable number of 's be , which is clearly arbitrarily large, is the square of an integer.
To prove (2), write and notice that solves the Pell equation
The latter has therefore infinitely many solutions in positive integers. In particular, it has a solution such that . This establishes (2) and concludes the proof.