Sun's conjectures on fourth powers in the class group of binary quadratic forms (Q1038491): Difference between revisions

Let \(H(D)\) be the class group of binary primitive quadratic forms \(ax^2+bxy+cy^2\) of discriminant \(D=b^2-4ac\), \(h(D)\) its order and \(h_4(D)\) the order of the subgroup of fourth powers of elements in \(H(D)\). \textit{Z. H. Sun} in [J. Number Theory 113, No. 1, 10--52 (2005; Zbl 1101.11003)] proposed five conjectures, labeled (8.2)-(8.6), concerning the values \(h(D)\) and \(h_4(D)\) for certain \(D\). \textit{L. Liu} [Sci. Magna 2, No. 1, 108--110 (2006; Zbl 1181.11003)] found counterexamples to conjecture (8.4). In the present paper, the author proves a modified version of this conjecture and shows that the remaining conjectures are correct. Example: If \(p\equiv 1(\text{mod~}8)\) is a prime, then \(h_4(-8p)=h(-8p)/4=h_4(-128p)\). The proofs are elementary and use some genus theory.