Exercise 3.3

Show that the equation 3 x 2 + 2 = y 2 has no solution in integers.

Answers

Proof. If 3 x 2 + 2 = y 2 , then y ¯ 2 = 2 ¯ in ℤ ∕ 3 ℤ .

As { − 1 , 0 , 1 } is a complete set of residues modulo 3 , the squares in ℤ ∕ 3 ℤ are 0 ¯ = 0 ¯ 2 and 1 ¯ = 1 ¯ 2 = ( − 1 ¯ ) 2 , so 2 ¯ is not a square in ℤ ∕ 3 ℤ : y ¯ 2 = 2 ¯ is impossible in ℤ ∕ 3 ℤ .

Thus 3 x 2 + 2 = y 2 has no solution in integers. □

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2022-07-19 00:00
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