ARTICLE IN PRESS

Journal of Number Theory 107 (2004) 215–227

http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jnt

Lucas sequences whose 12th or 9th term

is a square
A. Bremnera,
and N. Tzanakisb
a
Department of Mathematics, Arizona State University, Box 871804, Tempe AZ 85287-1804, USA
b
Department of Mathematics, University of Crete, Iraklion, Greece
Received 20 May 2002; revised 18 February 2004

Communicated by D.J. Lewis

Abstract

Let P and Q be non-zero relatively prime integers. The Lucas sequence fUn ðP; QÞg is
defined by

U0 ¼ 0; U1 ¼ 1; Un ¼ PUn1  QUn2 ðnX2Þ:

We show that the only sequence with U12 ðP; QÞ a perfect square is the Fibonacci sequence
fUn ð1; 1Þg; and we show that there are no non-degenerate sequences fUn ðP; QÞg with
U9 ðP; QÞ a perfect square. The argument involves finding all rational points on several curves
of genus 2.
r 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Lucas sequence; Elliptic curve; Formal group

1. Introduction

Let P and Q be non-zero relatively prime integers. The Lucas sequence fUn ðP; QÞg
is defined by

U0 ¼ 0; U1 ¼ 1; Un ¼ PUn1  QUn2 ðnX2Þ: ð1Þ

Corresponding author. Fax: +480-965-8119.
E-mail addresses: bremner@asu.edu (A. Bremner), tzanakis@math.uoc.gr (N. Tzanakis).
URLs: http://math.la.asu.edu/~andrew/bremner.html, http://www.math.uoc.gr/~tzanakis.

0022-314X/$ - see front matter r 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jnt.2004.04.002
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216 A. Bremner, N. Tzanakis / Journal of Number Theory 107 (2004) 215–227

The sequence fUn ð1; 1Þg is the familiar Fibonacci sequence, and it was proved by
Cohn [12] in 1964 that the only perfect square greater than 1 in this sequence is
U12 ¼ 144: The question arises, for which parameters P; Q; can Un ðP; QÞ be a perfect
square? This has been studied by several authors: see for example [13–15,22,25].
Using Baker’s method on linear forms in logarithms, work of Shorey and Tijdeman
[26] implies that there can only be finitely many squares in the sequence fUn ðP; QÞg:
Ribenboim and McDaniel [23] with only elementary methods show that when P and
Q are odd, and P2  4Q40; then Un can be square only for n ¼ 0; 1; 2; 3; 6 or 12;
and that there are at most two indices greater than 1 for which Un can be square.
They characterize fully the instances when Un ¼ &; for n ¼ 2; 3; 6; and observe that
U12 ¼ & if and only if there is a solution to the Diophantine system

P ¼ &; P2  Q ¼ 2&; P2  2Q ¼ 3&; P2  3Q ¼ &; ðP2  2QÞ2  3Q2 ¼ 6&: ð2Þ

When P is even, a later paper of Ribenboim and McDaniel [24] proves that if
Q  1 ðmod 4Þ; then Un ðP; QÞ ¼ & for n40 only if n is a square or twice a square,
and all prime factors of n divide P2  4Q: Further, if p2t jn for a prime p; then Up2u is
square for u ¼ 1; y; t: In addition, if n is even, then Un ¼ & only if P is a square or
twice a square. A remark is made that no example is known of an integer pair P; Q;
and an odd prime p; such that Up2 ¼ & (note none can exist for P; Q odd,
P2  4Q40).
In this paper, we complete the results of Ribenboim and MacDaniel [23] by
determining all Lucas sequences fUn ðP; QÞg with U12 ¼ & (in fact, the result is
extended, because we do not need the restrictions that P; Q be odd, and
P2  4Q40): it turns out that the Fibonacci sequence provides the only example.
Moreover, we also determine all Lucas sequences fUn ðP; QÞg with U9 ¼ &; subject
only to the restriction that ðP; QÞ ¼ 1: Throughout this paper the symbol & means
square of a non-zero rational number.

Theorem 1. Let ðP; QÞ be any pair of relatively prime non-zero integers. Then,
* U12 ðP; QÞ ¼ & iff ðP; QÞ ¼ ð1; 1Þ (corresponding to the Fibonacci sequence).
* U9 ðP; QÞ ¼ & iff ðP; QÞ ¼ ð72; 1Þ (corresponding to the sequences Un ¼ n and
Un ¼ ð1Þnþ1 n).
The remainder of the paper is devoted mainly to the proof of this theorem.
Theorems 3 and 6 of [23] combined with the first statement of Theorem 1 imply the
following.

Theorem 2. Let P; Q be relatively prime odd integers, such that P2  4Q40: Then the
nth term, n41; of the Lucas sequence Un ¼ Un ðP; QÞ can be a square only if n ¼ 2; 3; 6
or 12. More precisely:1
1
Below it is understood that parameters a; b are in every case chosen so that P; Q are odd, relatively
prime and P2  4Q40:
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* U2 ¼ & iff P ¼ a2 :
* U3 ¼ & iff P ¼ a; Q ¼ a2  b2 :
8 4 4 8
* U6 ¼ & iff P ¼ 3a2 b2 ; Q ¼ a þ12a2 b 9b :
* U12 ¼ & iff ðP; QÞ ¼ ð1; 1Þ: Moreover, this result is also valid even if we remove
all restrictions on P; Q except for gcdðP; QÞ ¼ 1:
The proof of Theorem 1 hinges, in both cases, upon finding all rational points on a
curve of genus 2. When the rank of the Jacobian of such a curve is less than 2, then
methods of Chabauty [11], as expounded subsequently by Coleman [16], Cassels and
Flynn [10] and Flynn [17] may be used to determine the (finitely many) rational
points on the curve. When the rank of the Jacobian is at least 2, as is the case here, a
direct application of these methods fails. In order to deal with such situations, very
interesting methods have been developed recently by a number of authors; see
Chapter 1 of Wetherell’s Ph.D. thesis [31], Bruin [2–4], Bruin and Flynn [7,8], Flynn
[18], and Flynn and Wetherell [19,20]. For the purpose of this paper, the method of
[18,19] is sufficient.

2. The Diophantine equations

2.1. The case U12

For U12 ðP; QÞ to be square, we have from (1)

U12 ðP; QÞ ¼ PðP2  3QÞðP2  2QÞðP2  QÞðP 4  4P2 Q þ Q2 Þ ¼ &: ð3Þ

Now ðPðP2  3QÞðP2  QÞ; ðP2  QÞðP 4  4P2 Q þ Q2 ÞÞ divides 2, so that U12 ¼ &
implies

PðP2  3QÞðP2  QÞ ¼ d&; ðP2  2QÞðP 4  4P2 Q þ Q2 Þ ¼ d&;

where d ¼ 71; 72: With x ¼ Q=P2 ; we deduce

ð1  2xÞð1  4x þ x2 Þ ¼ d&

and of these four elliptic curves, only the curve with d ¼ 2 has positive rational rank.
Torsion points on the three other curves do not provide any solutions for P; Q: We
are thus reduced to considering the equations

PðP2  3QÞðP2  QÞ ¼ 2&; ðP2  2QÞðP 4  4P2 Q þ Q2 Þ ¼ 2&:

From the first equation,

PðP2  3QÞ ¼ 72&; P2  Q ¼ 7&; or PðP2  3QÞ ¼ 7&; P2  Q ¼ 72&:

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The former case implies one of

P ¼ d& P2  3Q ¼ 2d& P2  Q ¼ &;

P ¼ d& P2  3Q ¼ 2d& P2  Q ¼ &;

P ¼ 2d& P2  3Q ¼ d& P2  Q ¼ &;

P ¼ 2d& P2  3Q ¼ d& P2  Q ¼ &; ð4Þ

where d ¼ 71; 73:

The latter case implies one of

P ¼ d& P2  3Q ¼ d& P2  Q ¼ 2&;

P ¼ d& P2  3Q ¼ d& P2  Q ¼ 2&; ð5Þ

where d ¼ 71; 73:

Solvability in R or elementary congruences shows impossibility of the above
equations (4), (5), except in the following instances:

P ¼ &; P2  3Q ¼ 2&; P2  Q ¼ &;

P ¼ 3&; P2  3Q ¼ 6&; P2  Q ¼ &;

P ¼ 6&; P2  3Q ¼ 3&; P2  Q ¼ &;

P ¼ &; P2  3Q ¼ 2&; P2  Q ¼ &;

P ¼ 6&; P2  3Q ¼ 3&; P2  Q ¼ &;

P ¼ &; P2  3Q ¼ &; P2  Q ¼ 2&;

P ¼ 3&; P2  3Q ¼ 3&; P2  Q ¼ 2&: ð6Þ

Recall now that

ðP2  2QÞðP 4  4P2 Q þ Q2 Þ ¼ 2&;

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from which
P2  2Q ¼ Z&; P 4  4P2 Q þ Q2 ¼ 2Z& or

P2  2Q ¼ 2Z&; P 4  4P2 Q þ Q2 ¼ Z&;

where Z ¼ 71; 73: The only locally solvable equations are

P2  2Q ¼ &; P 4  4P2 Q þ Q2 ¼ 2&;

P2  2Q ¼ 3&; P 4  4P2 Q þ Q2 ¼ 6&;

P2  2Q ¼ 2&; P 4  4P2 Q þ Q2 ¼ &: ð7Þ

It is straightforward by elementary congruences to deduce from (6), (7), that we must

have one of the following:

P P2  3Q P2  Q P2  2Q P 4  4P2 Q þ Q2
& 2& & & 2&
6& 3& & 2& &
& 2& & & 2&
& & 2& 3& 6&

Now the rational ranks of the following elliptic curves are 0:

ðx þ 1Þðx2  4x þ 1Þ ¼ 2&; ð3x þ 1Þðx2  4x þ 1Þ ¼ 3&;

ðx þ 1Þðx2  4x þ 1Þ ¼ 2&;

and consequently the rational points on the curves corresponding to the first three rows
of the above table are straightforward to determine: they are ðP; QÞ ¼ ð1; 1Þ; ð0; 1Þ;
and ð1; 1Þ; respectively. These lead to degenerate Lucas sequences with U12 ¼ 0:
It remains only to find all rational points on the following curve:

P ¼ &; P2  3Q ¼ &; P2  Q ¼ 2&; P2  2Q ¼ 3&; P 4  4P2 Q þ Q2 ¼ 6&;

satisfying ðP; QÞ ¼ 1: Note that this is the curve (2), though we have removed the
restriction that P and Q be odd, and P2  4Q40:
Put Q=P2 ¼ 1  2u2 ; so that

3u2  1 ¼ 2&; 4u2  1 ¼ 3&; 2u4 þ 2u2  1 ¼ 3&: ð8Þ

Eq. (8) defines a curve of genus 9, with certainly only finitely many points. We
restrict attention to the curve of genus 2 defined by

4u2  1 ¼ 3&; 2u4 þ 2u2  1 ¼ 3&:

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pffiffiffi pffiffiffi pffiffiffi

Define K ¼ Qð 3Þ; with ring of integers OK ¼ Z½ 3 ; and fundamental unit 2 þ 3:
Observe that ðu2  1Þ2  3u4 ¼ 3& implies
pffiffiffi pffiffiffi
u2  1 þ u2 3 ¼ e 3g 2 ;
pffiffiffi
for e a unit of OK of norm þ1; and gAOK : If e ¼ 2 þ 3; the resulting equation is
locally unsolvable above 3, and so without loss of generality, e ¼ 1: Consider now
pffiffiffi pffiffiffi
u2 ð4u2  1Þðu2 ð1 þ 3Þ  1Þ ¼ 3 3V 2 ; V AK:
pffiffiffi pffiffiffi
In consequence, ðx; yÞ ¼ ðð12 þ 4 3Þu2 ; ð36 þ 12 3ÞV Þ is a point defined over K on
the elliptic curve
pffiffiffi pffiffiffi
E1 : y2 ¼ xðx  ð3 þ 3ÞÞðx  4 3Þ ð9Þ
pffiffi
satisfying ð324 3Þ xAQ2 : We shall see that the K-rank of E1 is equal to 1, with
pffiffiffi pffiffiffi
generator of infinite order P ¼ ð 3; 3 3Þ:

2.2. The case U9

For U9 ðP; QÞ to be square, we have from (1)

U9 ðP; QÞ ¼ ðP2  QÞðP6  6P 4 Q þ 9P2 Q2  Q3 Þ ¼ &: ð10Þ

So

P2  Q ¼ d&; P6  6P 4 Q þ 9P2 Q2  Q3 ¼ d&;

where 7d ¼ 1; 3: Put Q ¼ P2  dR2 : Then

3 6
P  9P 4 R2 þ 6dP2 R4 þ d2 R6 ¼ &; ð11Þ
d

with covering elliptic curves

3 3 3
 9x þ 6dx2 þ d2 x3 ¼ &; x  9x2 þ 6dx þ d2 ¼ &: ð12Þ
d d

For d ¼ 71; the first curve has rational rank 0, and torsion points do not lead to
non-zero solutions for P; Q: For d ¼ 73; both curves at (12) have rational rank 1, so
that the rank of the Jacobian of (11) equals 2. To solve the equation U9 ðP; QÞ ¼ &;
it is necessary to determine all integer points on the two curves

P6  9P 4 R2 þ 18P2 R4 þ 9R6 ¼ & ð13Þ

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and

P6  9P 4 R2  18P2 R4 þ 9R6 ¼ &: ð14Þ

To this end, let L ¼ QðaÞ be the number field defined by a3  3a  1 ¼ 0: Gal(L=Q)

is cyclic of order 3, generated by s; say, where as ¼ 1=ð1 þ aÞ ¼ 2  a þ a2 : The
ring of integers OL has basis f1; a; a2 g; and class number 1. Generators for the group
of units in OL are e1 ¼ a; e2 ¼ 1 þ a; with norms Normðe1 Þ ¼ 1; Normðe2 Þ ¼ 1: The
discriminant of L=Q is 81, and the ideal (3) factors in OL as ð1 þ aÞ3 :

2.2.1
Eq. (13) may be written in the form

NormL=Q ðP2 þ ð5 þ a þ a2 ÞR2 Þ ¼ S2 ; say;

and it follows that

P2 þ ð5 þ a þ a2 ÞR2 ¼ lU 2 ; ð15Þ

2
with lAOL squarefree and of norm þ1 modulo L
:
Applying s;

P2 þ ð5  2a þ a2 ÞR2 ¼ ls V 2 : ð16Þ

Suppose P is a first degree prime ideal of OL dividing ðlÞ: Then for the norm of l to
be a square, l must also be divisible by one of the conjugate prime ideals of P: It
follows that P; or one of its conjugates, divides both l and ls : Then this prime will
divide ðð5 þ a þ a2 Þ  ð5  2a þ a2 ÞÞ ¼ ð3aÞ ¼ ð1  aÞ3 : So P has to be ð1  aÞ;
with ð1  aÞ2 dividing l; contradicting l squarefree. If the residual degree of P is 3,
then the norm of l cannot be square. Finally, the residual degree of P cannot be 2,
otherwise y ¼ 5  a  a2  m ðmod PÞ; for some rational integer m; so that a ¼
1  2y þ 13 y2 is congruent to a rational integer modulo P; impossible. In
consequence, l is forced to be a unit, of norm þ1: Without loss of generality, the
only possibilities are l ¼ 1; e1 ; e2 ; e1 e2 : However, specializing the left-hand side of
(15) at the root a0 ¼ 1:8793852415::: of x3  3x  1 ¼ 0 shows that P2 þ
0:4114::R2 ¼ lða0 ÞUða0 Þ2 ; so that lða0 Þ40; giving unsolvability of (15) for l ¼
e2 ; e1 e2 : There remain the two cases l ¼ 1; with solution ðP; R; UÞ ¼ ð1; 0; 1Þ; and
l ¼ e1 ; with solution ðP; R; UÞ ¼ ð0; 1; 4  a2 Þ: From (15) and (16) we now have

P2 ðP2 þ ð5 þ a þ a2 ÞR2 ÞðP2 þ ð5  2a þ a2 ÞR2 Þ ¼ mW 2 ;

with m ¼ lls ¼ 1 or 1 þ a  a2 : Accordingly, X ¼ P2 =R2 gives a point on the elliptic

curve:

X ðX þ ð5 þ a þ a2 ÞÞðX þ ð5  2a þ a2 ÞÞ ¼ mY 2 : ð17Þ

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Now when m ¼ 1; a relatively straightforward 2-descent argument shows that the

QðaÞ-rank of (17) is equal to 0 (we also checked this result using the Pari-GP
software of Denis Simon [30]). The torsion group is of order 4, and no non-zero P; Q
arise.   2
m P2
When m ¼ 1 þ a  a2 ; then ðx; yÞ ¼ ; m W
ð1aÞ2 R2 ð1aÞ3 R3
is a point on the elliptic
curve E2 over QðaÞ; where

E2 : y2 ¼ xðx þ ð2  a þ a2 ÞÞðx þ ð1 þ a þ a2 ÞÞ; ð18Þ

2
satisfying ð1aÞ 2
m x ¼ ð4 þ a  2a ÞxAQ :
2

We shall see that the QðaÞ-rank of E2 is 1, with generator of infinite order equal to
ð1; aÞ:

2.2.2
Eq. (14) may be written in the form

NormL=Q ðP2 þ ð5 þ a þ a2 ÞR2 Þ ¼ S 2 ðsayÞ;

so that

P2 þ ð5 þ a þ a2 ÞR2 ¼ lU 2 ; ð19Þ

2
with lAOL squarefree and of norm þ1 modulo L
: Arguing as in the previous case,
l must be a squarefree unit of norm þ1; so without loss of generality equal to 1, e1 ;
e2 ; e1 e2 : Only when l ¼ e1 is (19) solvable at all the infinite places. Thus

P2 þ ð5 þ a þ a2 ÞR2 ¼ aU 2 ; P2 þ ð5  2a þ a2 ÞR2 ¼ ð2  a þ a2 ÞV 2

2
and x ¼ ð1þaa ÞP 2

ð1aÞ2 R2
is the x-coordinate of a point on the elliptic curve

y2 ¼ xðx þ ð2 þ a  a2 ÞÞðx þ ð1  a  a2 ÞÞ ð20Þ

2
ð1aÞ 2 2
satisfying ð1þaa 2 Þ x ¼ ð4 þ a  2a ÞxAQ : However, a straightforward calculation

shows that the QðaÞ-rank of (20) is equal to 0; with torsion group the obvious group
of order 4. There are no corresponding solutions for P; Q:

3. The Mordell–Weil basis

Here we justify our assertions about the elliptic curves E1 at (9) and E2 at (18).
These curves are defined over fields F (where F =K or L; respectively) with unique
factorization, and have F -rational two-torsion. So standard two-descents over F
work analogously to the standard two-descent over Q for an elliptic curve with
rational two-torsion; see for example Silverman [28, Chapter 10.4]. It is thus
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straightforward to determine generators for Ei ðF Þ=2Ei ðF Þ; i ¼ 1; 2 (and in fact

software packages such as that of Simon [30] written for Pari-GP, and ALGAE [5] of
Bruin written for KASH, with m-ALGAE [6] for MAGMA, also perform this
pffiffiffi pffiffiffi
calculation effortlessly). Such generators are the classes of P1 ¼ ð 3; 3 3Þ for the
curve E1 ; and P2 ¼ ð1; aÞ for the curve E2 : In fact P1 and P2 are generators for the
pffiffiffi
Mordell–Weil groups E1 ðQð 3ÞÞ and E2 ðQðaÞÞ; respectively. To show this
necessitates detailed height calculations over the appropriate number field, with
careful estimates for the difference ĥðQÞ  12 hðQÞ where ĥðQÞ is the canonical height
of the point Q; and hðQÞ the logarithmic height. The KASH/TECC package of Kida
[21] was useful here in confirming calculations. The standard Silverman bounds [29]
are numerically too crude for our purposes, so recourse was made to the refinements
of Siksek [27]. Full details of the argument are given in Section 3 of [1]. Actually,
determination of the full F -rational Mordell–Weil groups of E1 and E2 may be
redundant; it is likely that the subsequent local computations can be performed
subject only to a simple condition on the index in EðF Þ of a set of generators for
EðF Þ=2EðF Þ: The reader is referred to Bruin [4] or Flynn and Wetherell [20] for
details and examples. This latter technique must be used of course when the height
computations are simply too time consuming to be practical.

4. Finding all points on (9) and (18) under the rationality conditions

4.1. General description of the method

The problems to which we were led in Section 2 are of the following shape.

Problem. Let

E : y2 þ a1 xy þ a3 y ¼ x3 þ a2 x2 þ a4 x þ a6 ; ð21Þ

be an elliptic curve defined over QðaÞ; where a is a root of a polynomial f ðX ÞAZ½X ;

irreducible over Q; of degree dX2 and bAQðaÞ an algebraic integer. Find all points
ðx; yÞAEðQðaÞÞ for which bx is the square of a rational number.

For the solution of this type of problem we adopt the technique described and
applied in [19].2 Several problems of this type have already been solved with a similar
technique (besides [19], see also [4,8,18,20]); therefore we content ourselves with a
rather rough description of the employed method and refer the interested reader to
Section 4 of [1] for a detailed exposition.
We assume the existence of a rational prime p with the following properties:
(i) f ðX Þ is irreducible in Qp ½X :
(ii) The coefficients of (21) are in Zp ½a :
2
But see also the references at the end of Section 1.
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(iii) Eq. (21) is a minimal Weierstrass equation for E=Qp ðaÞ at the unique discrete
valuation v defined on QðaÞ with vðpÞ ¼ 1:
(iv) bAQp ðaÞ is a p-adic unit.

We work with both (21) and the associated model w ¼ z3 þ a1 zw þ a2 z2 w þ

a3 w2 þ a4 zw2 þ a6 w3 ; which are related by means of the birational transformation
ðx; yÞ/ðz; wÞ ¼ ðx=y; 1=yÞ; ðz; wÞ/ðx; yÞ ¼ ðz=w; 1=wÞ:
We also need the formal group law which is defined by means of two p-adically
convergent power series Fðz1 ; z2 ÞAZ½a ½½z1 ; z2 (‘‘sum’’) and iðzÞAZ½a ½½z (‘‘in-
verse’’), satisfying certain properties (see Section 2, Chapter IV of [28]). These series
can be explicitly calculated up to any precision, and the operations
ðz1 ; z2 Þ/Fðz1 ; z2 Þ; z/iðzÞ make pZp ½a a group E # (or, more precisely, E=Z
# p ½a ),
which is the formal group associated to E=Qp ðaÞ:
There is a group isomorphism between E # and the subgroup of EðQp ðaÞÞ consisting
of those points Q whose reduction mod p is the zero point of the reduced mod p
curve, defined by z/Q; where Q ¼ ðz=wðzÞ; 1=wðzÞÞ if za0 and Q ¼ O if z ¼ 0;
with wðzÞ a p-adically convergent power series, that can be explicitly calculated up to
any p-adic precision. The inverse map is given by zðOÞ ¼ 0 and for QAEðQp ðaÞÞ
different from O whose reduction mod p is zero, zðQÞ ¼  xðQÞ
yðQÞ:
The remarkable property relating the functions z and F is that, for any points
Q1 ; Q2 as Q above,

zðQ1 þ Q2 Þ ¼ FðzðQ1 Þ; zðQ2 ÞÞ: ð22Þ

With respect to E; a logarithmic function log is defined on pZp ½a and an exponential

function exp is defined on pr Zp ½a ; where r ¼ 1 if p42 and r ¼ 2 if p ¼ 2: These
functions are mutually inverse and can be explicitly calculated as p-adic power series
up to any precision. Moreover, if r is as above and z1 ; z2 Apr Zp ½a ; then

log Fðz1 ; z2 Þ ¼ log z1 þ log z2 and expðz1 þ z2 Þ ¼ Fðexp z1 ; exp z2 Þ: ð23Þ

Suppose now we know a point such that zðQÞApr Zp ½a and assume further that, for a
certain specifically known point PAQðaÞ-EðZp ½a Þ; or for P ¼ O; we want to find all
nAZ for which bxðP þ nQÞ is a rational number (or, more particularly, a square of a
rational). According to whether P is a finite point or P ¼ O; we express bxðP þ nQÞ
or 1=bxðnQÞ first as an element of Zp ½a ½½zðnQÞ and then, using properties (22) and
(23), as a sum y0 ðnÞ þ y1 ðnÞa þ ? þ yd1 ðnÞad1 ; where each series yi ðnÞ is a p-
adically convergent power series in n with coefficients in Zp ; which can be explicitly
calculated up to any desired p-adic precision. In order that this sum be a rational
number we must have yi ðnÞ ¼ 0 for i ¼ 1; y; d  1: At this point we use Strassman’s
Theorem,3 which restricts the number of p-adic integer solutions n: If the maximum
number of solutions implied by this theorem is equal to the number of solutions that
3
Theorem 4.1, in [9].
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we actually know, then we have explicitly all solutions. Sometimes, as in some

instances of the sections below, even Strassman’s Theorem is not necessary.
In the following two sections we apply the above method to Eqs. (9) and (18). At
the suggestion of the referee, we give only a few computational details; most of our
computational results, including the explicit form of the functions Fðz1 ; z2 Þ; wðzÞ; log
and exp with the required precision, can be found in Section 5.1 of [1].

4.2. Eq. (9)

pffiffiffi
For this section, let a ¼ 3: We write (9) as E: y2 ¼ x3  ð3 þ 5aÞx2 þ 12ð1 þ aÞx
and according to the discussion in Section 2.1 we must find all pointsðx; yÞ on this
curve, such that bx ¼ u2 AQ2 ; where b ¼ ð3  aÞ=24:
We work p-adically with p ¼ 7: According to Section 3, any point on EðQðaÞÞ is of
the form n1 P1 þ T; where P1 ¼ ða; 3aÞ and TAfO; ð0; 0Þ; ð4a; 0Þ; ð3 þ a; 0Þg: For Q ¼
11P1 we have zðQÞA7Z7 ½a ; and any point of EðQðaÞÞ can be written in the form
n1 P1 þ T ¼ ð11n þ rÞP1 þ T ¼ nQ þ P; with P ¼ rP1 þ T;  5prp5 and T a
torsion point as above. There are 44 possibilities for P; one of which is P ¼ O:
(i) Consider first the case when P is one out of the 43 possible finite points. As
noted in Section 4.1, we are led to a relation bxðP þ nQÞ ¼ y0 ðnÞ þ y1 ðnÞa; where the
7-adically convergent series yi ðnÞ; i ¼ 0; 1 depend on P: In 35 out of the 43 cases, it
turns out that y1 ð0Þc0 ðmod 7Þ; which, in particular, implies that bxðP þ nQÞ ¼
y0 ðnÞ þ y1 ðnÞa  y0 ð0Þ þ y1 ð0Þa ðmod 7Þ cannot be rational. The only cases that are
not excluded in this way occur when P is one of the following points: 74P1 þ
ð0; 0Þ; 73P1 þ ð0; 0Þ; 7P1 þ ð0; 0Þ; ð0; 0Þ; ð3 þ a; 0Þ:
We deal with these cases as follows: If P ¼ 74P1 þ ð0; 0Þ; then y0 ð0Þ ¼ 5; a
quadratic non-residue of 7; therefore, whatever n may be, bxðP þ nQÞ ¼ y0 ðnÞ þ
y1 ðnÞa cannot be the square of a rational number. In a completely analogous manner
we exclude P ¼ 73P1 þ ð0; 0Þ; since, in this case, y0 ð0Þ ¼ 6:
Next, consider P ¼ 7P1 þ ð0; 0Þ ¼ ð12 þ 4a; 7ð36 þ 12aÞÞ: With the plus sign we
compute y1 ðnÞ ¼ 7  94n þ 72  40n2 þ 73  6n3 þ ?; and with the minus sign, y1 ðnÞ ¼
7  249n þ 72  40n2 þ 73 n3 þ ?: In both cases, if na0; then dividing out by 7n we are
led to an impossible relation mod 7; hence n ¼ 0 and x ¼ xðP þ nQÞ ¼ xðPÞ ¼
12 þ 4a; which gives u2 ¼ bð12 þ 4aÞ ¼ 1 and u ¼ 1:
If P ¼ ð0; 0Þ; then we compute y1 ðnÞ ¼ 73  6889n2 þ 74  1733n4 þ 77  2n6 þ 77 
5n þ ? and if na0 we divide out by 73 n2 and we are led to an impossible relation
8

mod 7: Thus, n ¼ 0; which leads to x ¼ 0 and u ¼ 0: Finally, if P ¼ ð3 þ a; 0Þ; then

y1 ðnÞ ¼ 72  288n2 þ 74 n4 þ ?; forcing again n ¼ 0: Thus, x ¼ 3 þ a and u2 ¼ bð3 þ
aÞ ¼ 1=4; hence u ¼ 1=2:
(ii) Assume now that P ¼ O: Then we have 1=bxðnQÞ ¼ y0 ðnÞ þ y1 ðnÞa; where
y1 ðnÞ ¼ 72  244n2 þ 74  2n4 þ ?: Since we are interested in finite points ðx; yÞ ¼ nQ;
n must be non-zero. Dividing out y1 ðnÞ ¼ 0 by 72 n2 we obtain an impossible equality.
Conclusion: The only points on (9) satisfying bx ¼ u2 AQ2 are those with x ¼
12 þ 4a; 3 þ a; 0; corresponding to u ¼ 1; 12; 0: Only the first leads to a solution of (8)
and this leads to the solution ðP; QÞ ¼ ð1; 1Þ of (3) with U12 ð1; 1Þ ¼ 122 :
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
226 A. Bremner, N. Tzanakis / Journal of Number Theory 107 (2004) 215–227

4.3. Eq. (18)

We write (18) as y2 ¼ x3 þ ð3 þ 2a2 Þx2 þ ð2  a2 Þx: According to the discussion

in Section 2.2.1, it suffices to find all points ðx; yÞ on this curve such that bxAQ2 ;
where b ¼ 4 þ a  2a2 : We work p-adically with p ¼ 2: According to Section 3, any
point on EðQðaÞÞ is of the form n1 P1 þ T; where P1 ¼ ð1; aÞ and TAfO; ð1  a 
a2 ; 0Þ; ð0; 0Þ; ð2 þ a  a2 ; 0Þg: For the point Q ¼ 4P1 we have zðQÞA4Z2 ½a and we
write any point on EðQðaÞÞ in the form n1 P1 þ T ¼ ð4n þ rÞP1 þ T ¼ nQ þ P; with
P ¼ rP1 þ T; rAf1; 0; 1; 2g and T a torsion point as above. Therefore, there are 16
possibilities for P; one of which is P ¼ O:
Working as in Section 4.2 we check that the only solutions ðx; yÞ such that bxAQ2
are ðx; yÞ ¼ ð0; 0Þ; 2P1 þ ð0; 0Þ; 2P1 þ ð0; 0Þ: To give an idea of how we apply
Strassman’s Theorem, let us consider the instance when P ¼ 2P1 þ T with T ¼
ð0; 0Þ: We compute y1 ðnÞ ¼ 26  7n þ 26  3n2 þ 0  n3 þ 0  n4 þ 0  n5 þ 27 n6 ð?Þ: By
Strassman’s Theorem, y1 ðnÞ ¼ 0 can have at most two solutions in 2-adic integers n:
On the other hand, a straightforward computation shows that bxðP þ 0  QÞ ¼ 4 ¼
bxðP  QÞ; which implies, in particular, that y1 ð0Þ ¼ 0 ¼ y1 ð1Þ: Hence, n ¼ 0; 1
are the only solutions obtained for the above specific value of P; leading to the points
ðx; yÞ ¼ P þ 0Q ¼ 2P1 þ ð0; 0Þ and ðx; yÞ ¼ P þ ð1ÞQ ¼ 2P1 þ ð0; 0Þ; both hav-
ing x ¼ 43 ð1  a2 Þ and bx ¼ 4:
Conclusion: The only points on (18) satisfying bxAQ2 are those with x ¼ 0
(leading to P ¼ 0), and x ¼ 43 ð1  a2 Þ giving successively (in the notation of Section
P2
2.2.1) R2
¼ 4 and ðP; QÞ ¼ ð72; 1Þ; corresponding to degenerate Lucas sequences.

Acknowledgments

We are grateful to the referee for suggestions which have greatly improved the
presentation of this paper.

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