Complete determination of the possible pairs of lengths of regular continued fractions of \(\sqrt{D}\) and \((1 + \sqrt{D})/2\) (Q6965626)

Given the equation \(x^2-D y^2=4\), where \(D\) is positive not-square integer and \(D \equiv 1 \pmod{4}\). The possible pairs of lengths \(\ell\) and \(\ell^*\) of the periods of the regular continued fractions of \(\sqrt{D}\) and \((1+\sqrt{D})/2\) are completely characterised in the article. The new bound \(\ell \geq \ell^*+8\) is obtained when the equation has odd solutions and \(\ell^* \equiv 0 \pmod 3\). An algorithm is proposed that generates infinitely many \(D\) for every pair \(\ell, \ell^*\). The following theorem contains the main results of the article.\N\NTheorem. \N\begin{itemize}\N\item[(i)] If \(\nu \geq 1, \nu \not\equiv 0 \pmod 3,\nu + 4 \leq \mu \leq 5\nu\), and \(\mu \equiv \nu \pmod{4} \), then there are infinitely many \(D\) for which \(\ell=\mu, \ell^*=\nu\), and equation has odd solutions.\N\item[(ii)] If \(\nu \geq 3, \nu \equiv 0 \pmod 3, \nu+8 \leq \mu \leq 5 \nu \) and \(\nu\equiv \mu \pmod 4\), then there are infinitely many \(D\) for which \(\ell=\mu, \ell^*=\nu\), and equation has odd solutions.\N\item[(iii)] If \(\nu \geq 3, \nu \equiv 1 \pmod 2, \nu/3\leq \mu \leq 3\nu-4 \), and \(\mu-\nu \equiv 2 \pmod 4\), then there are infinitely many \(D\) for which \(\ell=\mu, \ell^*=\nu\), and equation does not have odd solutions.\N\item[(iv)] If \(\nu \geq 4, \nu \equiv 0 \pmod 2, \nu/3 \leq \mu \leq 3\nu-8 \), and \(\mu\equiv \nu \pmod 4\), then there are infinitely many \(D\) for which \(\ell=\mu, \ell^* =\nu\), and equation does not have odd solutions. \N\end{itemize}