The complete solution of the Diophantine equation \(\left(F_{n+1}^{(k)}\right)^x - \left(F_{n-1}^{(k)}\right)^x = F_m^{(k)}\) (Q6141295): Difference between revisions

Let \( k\ge 2 \) be an integer. The \( k \)-generalized Fibonacci sequence \( \{F_n^{(k)}\}_{n\ge -(k-2)} \) is given by the \( k \)-term linear recurrence relation \begin{align*} F_{n}^{(k)}=F_{n-1}^{(k)}+F_{n-2}^{(k)}+\cdots+F_{n-k}^{(k)}, \quad \text{for all} \quad n\ge 2, \end{align*} with the initial conditions \( F_{-(n-2)}^{(k)}=F_{-(n-3)}^{(k)} =\cdots=F_{0}^{(k)}=0\) and \( F_{1}^{(k)}=1 \). When \( k=2 \), this sequence coincides with the classical Fibonacci sequence and when \( k=3 \), it coincides with the Tribonacci sequence, and so on. In the paper under review, the authors study the exponential Diophantine equation \begin{align*} \left(F_{n+1}^{(k)}\right)^x-\left(F_{n-1}^{(k)}\right)^x=F_{m}^{(k)}. \tag{1} \end{align*} Their main result is the following. Theorem 1. The only non-trivial solutions \( (k,n,m,x) \) of the Diophantine equation (1) with \( k\ge 3 \), \( n\ge 4 \), \( m\ge 2 \), and \( x\ge 2 \) are \begin{align*} &\left(2^{\ell+1}+3\ell-7, ~4, ~3\cdot 2^{\ell}-7, 2^{\ell}+\ell-3\right), \quad \ell\ge 2;\\ & \left(2^{\ell+1}+2\ell-4, ~5, ~2^{\ell+1}+2\ell-4, 2^{\ell-1}+(\ell-3)/2\right), \quad \ell\ge 3, \quad \ell ~~\text{odd}. \end{align*} To prove Theorem 1 the authors use a clever combination of techniques in Diophantine number theory, the usual properties of the \( k \)-generalized Fibonacci sequence, Baker's theory of non-zero lower bounds for linear forms in logarithms of algebraic numbers, and reduction techniques involving the theory of continued fractions. All numerical computations are done with the aid of simple computer programs in \texttt{Mathematica}.