Some arithmetic applications of invariant theory (Q2675387)

Let \(F(x,y)=ax^{2}+bxy+cy^{2}\) be an integral binary form with discriminant \(D_{F}=b^{2}-4ac\). If \(\gcd(a,b,c)=1\), then it is called primitive. We say that an integer \(m\) is represented by \(F\) if there exist \(x, y \in {\mathbb Z}\) such that \(F(x,y) = m\). If there exist such \(x\) and \(y\) which are relatively prime, then we say \(m\) is properly represented by \(F\). A classical result in the representation of integers by binary quadratic forms is the following, Theorem~1 in this paper. Suppose that \(F(x,y)\) is primitive with \(D_{F} \neq 0\). \begin{itemize} \item[(i)] There exists a primitive binary quadratic form \(G\) with \(D_{G}=D_{F}\) that properly represents the square of each integer prime to \(D_{F}\) that \(F\) properly represents. \item[(ii)] If \(F\) can be written in the form \[ F(x,y)= \left( b^{2}-ac \right) x^{2} + \left( bc-ad \right) xy + \left( c^{2}-bd \right) y^{2} \] with integers \(a,b,c,d\), then in (i), we may take \(G=F\). \end{itemize} In this paper, the author obtains a weaker version of this result for certain binary quartic forms. An even binary quartic form is one that can be written as \[ F(x,y)=ax^{4}+2bx^{3}y+cx^{2}y^{2}+2dxy^{3}+ey^{4}, \] where \(a,b,c,d,e \in {\mathbb Z}\). We call it primitive if \(\gcd(a,2b,c,2d,e)=1\). The integral invariants of \(F\) can be generated by two algebraically independent invariants. We can let one of them be \(A_{F}=12ae-12bd+c^{2}\). His Theorem~2, which is an analogue of his Theorem~1(i) for primitive even quartic binary forms, states the following. Suppose that \(F(x, y)\) is a primitive even binary quartic form with \(A_{F} = P^{2}\) for some \(P \in {\mathbb Z}\) and with \(D_{F} \neq 0\). There exists a primitive even binary quartic form \(G\) with \(D_{G} = m^{2}D_{F}\) for some positive \(m \in {\mathbb Q}\) with the following property. The form \(G\) properly represents some nonzero multiple of the square of each integer prime to \(3D_{F}\) that \(F\) properly represents. His Theorem~3 provides an analogue of Theorem~1(ii) for primitive even quartic binary forms. The proofs are based on the classical invariant theory of binary forms and pairs of binary forms. It is likely that much more can be done with higher degree forms using such techniques. As the author states, the purpose of this paper is to illustrate the use of tools that can also be applied to some representation problems by higher degree binary forms. This is a well-written paper that offers interested readers some promising avenues to pursue.