Thomas' conjecture over function fields (Q2642769): Difference between revisions

In 1993, Thomas used Baker's method to show that the family \[ X(X - p_1(a)Y)(X - p_2(a)Y) + Y^3 = 1, \] where \(p_1, p_2\in \mathbb{Z}[a]\) are monic polynomials such that \(0 < \deg p_1 < \deg p_2\) and \(p_1, p_2\) fulfill some growth conditions, has only the trivial solutions \((X, Y) = (1, 0), (0, 1), (p_1(a), 1), (p_2(a), 1)\), for \(a\) sufficiently large [\textit{E. Thomas}, J. Number Theory 43, No. 3, 319--369 (1993; Zbl 0774.11013)]. Moreover, Thomas conjectured that the family \[ X(X - p_1(a)Y)\cdots (X - p_{d-1}(a)Y) + Y^d = 1, \] where \(p_1,\dots p_{d-1}\in \mathbb{Z}[a]\) are monic polynomials such that \(0 < \deg p_1 < \cdots < \deg p_{d-1}\), has only the trivial solutions \((X, Y) = (\pm 1, 0), (0, \pm 1), (\pm p_1(a), \pm 1), \dots (\pm p_2(a), \pm 1)\), for \(a\) sufficiently large and the minus sign appears when \(d\) is even. Some counterexamples of this conjecture are obtained particularly when \(\deg p_1 = 1\); for examples when \(d=3\) and \(p_1 = \pm 1\) studied by \textit{E. Lee} [see Studies on Diophantine Equations, PhD thesis, Cambridge University (1992)] and \textit{M. Mignotte} and \textit{N. Tzanakis} [J. Number Theory 39, No. 1, 41--49 (1991; Zbl 0734.11025)]. In this paper, the author gives, for the first time, a counterexample with \(\deg p_1 >0\). In fact, he considers the parametric family \[ X(X - \kappa Y)(X - \lambda Y) + Y^3 = \xi, \] where \(\kappa, \lambda \in \mathbb{C}[T]\) are monic polynomials such that \(0 < \deg \kappa < \deg \lambda\), (\(\kappa\) fixed), \((X, Y)\in \mathbb{C}[T]\times \mathbb{C}[T]\), and \(\xi \in \mathbb{C}^{\star}\). He finds all the solutions. Moreover, he conjectures that, for \(\kappa \neq 0\), the above equation has only the trivial solutions except the solutions \[ \zeta (-\lambda\kappa^5 - 4\kappa^3 - 1, \lambda\kappa - 6\kappa^2 - \lambda\kappa^4 - \kappa^5) \;\; \text{if }\; \lambda = \kappa^4+3\kappa, \] and \[ \zeta (\kappa^3 - 1, \lambda\kappa - \lambda\kappa^4 - \kappa^2) \;\; \text{if }\; \lambda = \kappa^4-2\kappa, \] with \(\zeta^3 = -\xi\). Finally, the author investigates the case \(\kappa = 0\) and finds a bound for the number of solutions.