On Diophantine equations of the form \((x-a_1)(x-a_2)\cdots(x-a_k)+r=y^n\) (Q353998)

A celebrated result of Erdős and Selfridge completely solves the Diophantine equation \[ x(x+1)(x+2)\cdots(x+(m-1))=y^n. \] In this paper, the authors deal with the more general equation \[ (x-a_1)(x-a_2)\cdots(x-a_k)+r=y^n, \] where \(0\leq a_1<a_2<\ldots<a_k\) are given integers, \(r\in\mathbb{Q}, n\geq 3.\) They prove that there are only finitely many solutions \(x\in\mathbb{Z}, y\in\mathbb{Q}\) except in case \(k=n=4.\) If \(r\) is an integer, then a bound is obtained for \(k\) as well. In the proof they use Rolle's theorem and a result by \textit{B. Brindza} [Acta Math. Hung. 53, No. 3--4, 377--383 (1989; Zbl 0691.10006)].