Geometric progressions in syndetic sets (Q5918940)

Let \(A=\{a_1, a_2, a_3, \ldots\}\) be a set of positive integers with \(a_i < a_{i+1}\) for all \(i \geq 1\). The set \(A\) is called \(\ell\)-syndetic if \(a_{i+1}-a_i \leq \ell\) for some integer \(\ell \geq 1\) and for all \(i \geq 1\). A set of positive integers is called a syndetic set if it is \(\ell\)-syndetic for some \(\ell \geq 1\). \textit{M. Beiglböck} et al. [J. Combin. Theory Ser. A 113, No. 7, 1219--1242 (2006; Zbl 1105.05071)] asked whether every syndetic set of integers contains arbitrarily long finite geometric progressions. An old result of \textit{P. Erdős} [J. Lond. Math. Soc. 10, No. 2, 126--128 (1935; Zbl 0012.05202)] ensures that every syndetic set contains a 2-term geometric progression with an integer common ratio, i.e., a subset of the form \(\{a, ax\}\) with \(x \geq 2\). However, it was not known whether such sets contains a 2-term geometric progression with common ratio being a perfect square, i.e., a subset of the form \(\{a, ax^2\}\) with \(x \geq 2\). Recently, \textit{B. R. Patil} [Arch. Math. 113, No. 2, 157--168 (2019; Zbl 1473.11020)] proved that a \(2\)-syndetic set always contains infinitely many subsets of the form \(\{a, ax^2\}\) with \(x \geq 2\). His proof is based on the polynomial identity \[ a(4a+3)^2+1 = (a+1)(4a+1)^2. \] In the present paper the author generalizes this identity by solving the diophantine equation \[ ax^2+k = (a+k)y^2. \] As a consequence, the author obtains the following result. Theorem 3. Let \(k\) be a positive integer. Let \(A\) be a set of positive integers such that \(\{a, a+k\} \subset A\) for infinitely many \(a \in A\) and \(\{a, a+k\} \cap A \neq \emptyset\) for all positive integers \(a\). Then the set \(A\) contains infinitely many subsets of the form \(\{a, ax^2\}\) for some integer \(x \geq 2\). Note that, Patil's result is a special case of this theorem, for \(k=1\).