A note on the Diophantine equation \(x^2 =4p^n -4p^m +\ell^2\) (Q2095064)

Let \(l\) be a fixed odd positive integer and consider the Diophantine equation \[ x^2=4p^{n}-4p^{m}+l^2. \] This is particular case of a generalized Ramanujan-Nagell equation. The authors are interested in solutions \((p, x, m, n)\), where \(p\) is a prime number and \(x, m, n\) are positive integers and obtain full characterization of solutions in the case when \(l^2<4p^{m}\), \(\gcd(x,l)=1\) and \(m<n\). To be more precise, under mentioned conditions, the main result states that the solutions exist only in the case when \(l=3, 5, 9, 11\). For example, if \(l=11\), then the only solutions are \((p, x, m, n)=(2, 181, 5, 13)\). The proof uses combination of classical results concerning integer solutions of certain classes of Ramanujan-Nagell equations together with a simple use of linear forms in logarithms.