On distribution of solutions of \(S\)-unit equations (Q676209)

This paper investigates the distribution of solutions of the equation \(\alpha x+\beta y=\gamma z\) in \(S\)-units \(x,y,z\in\mathbb Q\), for a finite set \(S\) of rational primes. More precisely, let \(S_1\), \(S_2\), and \(S_3\) be finite, pairwise disjoint sets of rational primes, let \(S=S_1\cup S_2\cup S_3\), let \(s=\#S\), and let \(\alpha\), \(\beta\), and \(\gamma\) be rational integers relatively prime to all the primes in \(S\). Let \(K\) be the set of vectors \((a_p)_{p\in S}\) satisfying the equation \[ \alpha\prod_{p\in S_1}p^{a_p} + \beta\prod_{p\in S_2}p^{a_p} = \gamma\prod_{p\in S_3}p^{a_p}, \] where all \(a_p\) are strictly positive integers. For each \(p\in S\) let \(m_p\) be the minimum value of \(a_p\) that occurs in \(K\). This paper proves theorems of the following form. Theorem. Assume \(2\notin S\), and let \(M>s\). Let \[ B = \{(a_p)_{p\in S}\in K\mid m_p\leq a_p<m_p+M \text{ for all \(p\in S\)}\}, \] and let \(B'\) be the subset of \(B\) defined by the additional conditions \[ a_p-m_p<s(s-\#S_i)\log(sM)/\log p \] for all \(p\in S_i\) and all \(i=1,2,3\). Then there are at most \(s^s\) solutions in \(B\) lying outside of \(B'\). Other theorems of the above type are also proved, including some with \(2\in S\). As a corollary, an explicit bound on the number of solutions of equations of the form \(p_1^{a_1}=p_2^{a_2}+p_3^{a_3}\dotsm p_s^{a_s}\) is obtained, using work of Györy and others. This bound is polynomial in \(s\) (and also depends on the largest prime occuring among the \(p_i\)).