On certain arithmetic properties of Stern polynomials

We prove several theorems concerning arithmetic properties of Stern polynomials defined in the following way: $B_{0}(t)=0, B_{1}(t)=1, B_{2n}(t)=tB_{n}(t)$, and $B_{2n+1}(t)=B_{n}(t)+B_{n+1}(t)$. We study also the sequence e(n)=\op{deg}_{t}B_{n}(t) and give various of its properties.Comment: 20 page

Rational points on certain hyperelliptic curves over finite fields

Let $K$ be a field, $a, b\in K$ and $ab\neq 0$. Let us consider the polynomials $g_{1}(x)=x^n+ax+b, g_{2}(x)=x^n+ax^2+bx$, where $n$ is a fixed positive integer. In this paper we show that for each $k\geq 2$ the hypersurface given by the equation \begin{equation*} S_{k}^{i}: u^2=\prod_{j=1}^{k}g_{i}(x_{j}),\quad i=1, 2. \end{equation*} contains a rational curve. Using the above and Woestijne's recent results \cite{Woe} we show how one can construct a rational point different from the point at infinity on the curves $C_{i}:y^2=g_{i}(x), (i=1, 2)$ defined over a finite field, in polynomial time.Comment: Revised version will appear in Bull. Polish Acad. Sci. Mat

Rational points on certain del Pezzo surfaces of degree one

Let $f(z)=z^5+az^3+bz^2+cz+d \in \Z[z]$ and let us consider a del Pezzo surface of degree one given by the equation $\cal{E}_{f}: x^2-y^3-f(z)=0$. In this note we prove that if the set of rational points on the curve $E_{a, b}:Y^2=X^3+135(2a-15)X-1350(5a+2b-26)$ is infinite, then the set of rational points on the surface $\cal{E}_{f}$ is dense in the Zariski topology.Comment: 8 pages. Published in Glasgow Mathematical Journa

Rational solutions of certain Diophantine equations involving norms

In this note we present some results concerning the unirationality of the algebraic variety $\cal{S}_{f}$ given by the equation \begin{equation*} N_{K/k}(X_{1}+\alpha X_{2}+\alpha^2 X_{3})=f(t), \end{equation*} where $k$ is a number field, $K=k(\alpha)$, $\alpha$ is a root of an irreducible polynomial $h(x)=x^3+ax+b\in k[x]$ and $f\in k[t]$. We are mainly interested in the case of pure cubic extensions, i.e. $a=0$ and $b\in k\setminus k^{3}$. We prove that if \op{deg}f=4 and the variety $\cal{S}_{f}$ contains a $k$-rational point $(x_{0},y_{0},z_{0},t_{0})$ with $f(t_{0})\neq 0$, then $\cal{S}_{f}$ is $k$-unirational. A similar result is proved for a broad family of quintic polynomials $f$ satisfying some mild conditions (for example this family contains all irreducible polynomials). Moreover, the unirationality of $\cal{S}_{f}$ (with non-trivial $k$-rational point) is proved for any polynomial $f$ of degree 6 with $f$ not equivalent to the polynomial $h$ satisfying the condition $h(t)\neq h(\zeta_{3}t)$, where $\zeta_{3}$ is the primitive third root of unity. We are able to prove the same result for an extension of degree 3 generated by the root of polynomial $h(x)=x^3+ax+b\in k[x]$, provided that $f(t)=t^6+a_{4}t^4+a_{1}t+a_{0}\in k[t]$ with $a_{1}a_{4}\neq 0$.Comment: submitte

Some experiments with Ramanujan-Nagell type Diophantine equations

Stiller proved that the Diophantine equation $x^2+119=15\cdot 2^{n}$ has exactly six solutions in positive integers. Motivated by this result we are interested in constructions of Diophantine equations of Ramanujan-Nagell type $x^2=Ak^{n}+B$ with many solutions. Here, $A,B\in\Z$ (thus $A, B$ are not necessarily positive) and $k\in\Z_{\geq 2}$ are given integers. In particular, we prove that for each $k$ there exists an infinite set $\cal{S}$ containing pairs of integers $(A, B)$ such that for each $(A,B)\in \cal{S}$ we have $\gcd(A,B)$ is square-free and the Diophantine equation $x^2=Ak^n+B$ has at least four solutions in positive integers. Moreover, we construct several Diophantine equations of the form $x^2=Ak^n+B$ with $k>2$, each containing five solutions in non-negative integers. %For example the equation $y^2=130\cdot 3^{n}+5550606$ has exactly five solutions with $n=0, 6, 11, 15, 16$. We also find new examples of equations $x^2=A2^{n}+B$ having six solutions in positive integers, e.g. the following Diophantine equations has exactly six solutions: \begin{equation*} \begin{array}{ll} x^2= 57\cdot 2^{n}+117440512 & n=0, 14, 16, 20, 24, 25, x^2= 165\cdot 2^{n}+26404 & n=0, 5, 7, 8, 10, 12. \end{array} \end{equation*} Moreover, based on an extensive numerical calculations we state several conjectures on the number of solutions of certain parametric families of the Diophantine equations of Ramanujan-Nagell type.Comment: 14 pages, to appear in Galsnik Matematick

Rational points on certain elliptic surfaces

Let $\mathcal{E}_{f}:y^2=x^3+f(t)x$, where f\in\Q[t]\setminus\Q, and let us assume that \op{deg}f\leq 4. In this paper we prove that if \op{deg}f\leq 3, then there exists a rational base change $t\mapsto\phi(t)$ such that on the surface $\cal{E}_{f\circ\phi}$ there is a non-torsion section. A similar theorem is valid in case when \op{deg}f=4 and there exists t_{0}\in\Q such that infinitely many rational points lie on the curve $E_{t_{0}}:y^2=x^3+f(t_{0})x$. In particular, we prove that if \op{deg}f=4 and $f$ is not an even polynomial, then there is a rational point on $\cal{E}_{f}$. Next, we consider a surface $\cal{E}^{g}:y^2=x^3+g(t)$, where g\in\Q[t] is a monic polynomial of degree six. We prove that if the polynomial $g$ is not even, there is a rational base change $t\mapsto\psi(t)$ such that on the surface $\cal{E}^{g\circ\psi}$ there is a non-torsion section. Furthermore, if there exists t_{0}\in\Q such that on the curve $E^{t_{0}}:y^2=x^3+g(t_{0})$ there are infinitely many rational points, then the set of these $t_{0}$ is infinite. We also present some results concerning diophantine equation of the form $x^2-y^3-g(z)=t$, where $t$ is a variable.Comment: 16 pages. Submitted for publicatio

A note on Diophantine systems involving three symmetric polynomials

Let $\bar{X}_{n}=(x_{1},\ldots,x_{n})$ and $\sigma_{i}(\bar{X}_{n})=\sum x_{k_{1}}\ldots x_{k_{i}}$ be $i$-th elementary symmetric polynomial. In this note we prove that there are infinitely many triples of integers $a, b, c$ such that for each $1\leq i\leq n$ the system of Diophantine equations \begin{equation*} \sigma_{i}(\bar{X}_{2n})=a, \quad \sigma_{2n-i}(\bar{X}_{2n})=b, \quad \sigma_{2n}(\bar{X}_{2n})=c \end{equation*} has infinitely many rational solutions. This result extend the recent results of Zhang and Cai, and the author. Moreover, we also consider some Diophantine systems involving sums of powers. In particular, we prove that for each $k$ there are at least $k$ $n$-tuples of integers with the same sum of $i$-th powers for $i=1,2,3$. Similar result is proved for $i=1,2,4$ and $i=-1,1,2$.Comment: to appear in J. Number Theor