(Peter Boyvalenkov) Find the least positive integer which cannot be written in the form , where and are positive integers.
Solution
Let . Note that and . We shall prove that the equation has no solution in positive integers. Write this equation in the form
Its discriminant with respect to equals
Since for any integer and for any integer , the equation has no positive integer solutions if .
Direct verifications show the same if .
Hence the wanted integer is 3.
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