Strong rational Diophantine \(D(q)\)-triples (Q2182014)

A Diophantine \(m\)-tuple is a set \(\{a_1 , \ldots, a_m\}\) of \(m\) non-zero integers with the property that \(a_i a_j + 1\) is a square, whenever \(i \neq j\); such an \(m\)-tuple is called rational if we allow its elements to be non-zero rational numbers. Diophantus found the first example of a rational Diophantine quadruple, \[ \left\{\frac{1}{16}, \frac{33}{16}, \frac{17}{4}, \frac{105}{6} \right\}, \] while Euler proved that there exist infinitely many rational Diophantine quintuples. \textit{P. Gibbs} [Glas. Mat., III. Ser. 41, No. 2, 195--203 (2006; Zbl 1131.11019)] found the first example of rational Diophantine sextuple, \[ \left\{ \frac{11}{192}, \frac{35}{192}, \frac{155}{27}, \frac{512}{27}, \frac{1235}{48}, \frac{180873}{16}\right\}, \] while \textit{A. Dujella} et al. [Int. Math. Res. Not. 2017, No. 2, 490--508 (2017; Zbl 1405.11033)] proved that there are infinitely many rational Diophantine sextuples. Let \(q\) be a rational number. A strong rational Diophantine \(D(q)\)-\(m\)-tuple is a set of non-zero rational numbers \(\{a_1 , \ldots , a_m\}\) such that \(a_i a_j + q\) is a square for all \(i, j = 1,\ldots , m\) (including the case \(i = j\)). In the paper under review, the authors show that for infinitely many square-free integers \(q\) there exist infinitely many triples of rational numbers \(\{a, b, c\}\) such that \(a^2 + q, ~b^2 + q, ~c^2 + q, ~ab + q, ~ac + q\), and \(bc + q\) are squares of rational numbers. That is, they prove the following result. Theorem 1. There exist infinitely many square-free integers \(q\) with the property that there exist infinitely many strong rational Diophantine \(D(q)\)-triples. The proof of Theorem 1 involves construction of strong rational Diophantine \(D(q)\)-pairs and triples which uses properties of related elliptic curves.