On the equivalence of certain quadratic irrationals (Q6049530)

Let \(v\) and \(q\) be positive integers, \(v\) not a square. The author studies the equivalence between numbers \(x=m/q+\sqrt{v},\) where \(m\) is an integer, \((m, q) = 1.\) Two numbers \(x\) and \(y\) will be equivalent if the continued fractions of \(x\) and \(y\) can be written with the same period. The following theorems are proven in the paper. \textbf{Theorem 1.} Let \(x=m/q+\sqrt{v}, y=n/q+\sqrt{v}, (m,q)=(n,q)=1. \) Let \(q_1=(m-n,q).\) Then \(x \sim y\) if, and only if, the equation \(r^2-c^2v = \pm 1\) has a solution \((r,c)\in \mathbb{Z}^2\) such that \((c,q^2)=qq_1.\) \textbf{Theorem 2.} Let \(q_0\) be the smallest divisor of \(q\) such that there is a solution \((r,c)\) of the equation \(r^2-c^2v = \pm 1\) with \((c,q^2)=qq_0\). Then the numbers \(x=m/q+\sqrt{v}, (m,q)=1, 0\leq m \leq q-1\), belong to exactly \(\varphi(q_0)\) equivalence classes, each of which contains \(\varphi(q)/\varphi(q_0)\) elements \(x\). Examples are given in the article.