On the reduction of binary cubic forms with positive discriminants. I, II (Q2641329)

A binary cubic form is a homogeneous integer polynomial of degree 3 in two variables. Two binary cubic forms \[ f(x,y)=ax^ 3+bx^ 2y+cxy^ 2+dy^ 3\text{ and } f'(x,y)=a'x^ 3+b'x^ 2y+c'xy^ 2+d'y^ 3 \] are equivalent iff there exist integers p,q,r,s with \(ps-qr=\pm 1\) such that \(f'(x,y)=f(px+qy,rx+sy)\). These two papers address the question of identifying a unique canonical representative of a class of equivalent binary cubic forms. In the first paper, the author shows that Hermite's reduced form is inadequate, by finding two distinct but equivalent reduced forms. The Hessian of f(x,y) is \(h(x,y)=Ax^ 2+Bxy+Cy^ 2\) where \(A=b^ 2-3ac\), \(B=bc-9ad\), \(C=c^ 2-3bd\). Hermite's reduced form is any form with \(0\leq B\leq A\leq C\). The author defines the strictly reduced form for binary cubic forms of positive discriminant as a form whose Hessian satisfies \[ I)\quad 0\leq B\leq A\leq C,\quad II)\quad a>0,\quad III)\quad A=B\Rightarrow 3a-2b>0, \] \[ IV)\quad A=C,A\neq B\Rightarrow a-| d| <0,\quad V)\quad B=0\Rightarrow d<0. \] He proves that there is a unique strictly reduced form in each class. In the second paper, he defines the modified strictly reduced form for binary cubic forms of positive discriminant as a form whose Hessian satisfies \[ I)\quad 0\leq B\leq A\leq C,\quad II)\quad a>0, \] \[ III)\quad A=-B\Rightarrow 3a+2b>0,\quad IV)\quad A=C,\quad A\neq | B| \Rightarrow a-d<0. \] He also proves that there is a unique modified strictly reduced form in each class. He suggests that this second reduced form is of greater interest for computation.