Nonnegative integer solutions of the equation \(L_n^{(k)}- L_m^{(k)}=2\cdot 3^{\alpha}\) (Q7001608)

Let \( \{L_{n}^{(k)}\}_{n\ge -(k-2)} \) be the \( k \)-generalized Lucas sequence given by\N\begin{align*}\NL_n^{(k)}=L_{n-1}^{(k)}+\cdots +L_{n-k}^{(k)}\quad \text{for all }\quad n\ge 2,\N\end{align*}\Nwith the initial conditions\N\begin{align*}\NL_{-(n-2)}^{(k)}=L_{-(n-3)}^{(k)}=\cdots L_{-1}^{(k)}=0, \quad L_{0}^{(k)}=2 \quad \text{and} \quad L_{1}^{(k)}=1.\N\end{align*}\NWhen \( k=2 \), this sequence coincides with the classical Lucas sequence. In the paper under review, the authors prove the following theorem, which is the main result in the paper.\N\NTheorem 1. All the solutions of the Diophantine equation\N\begin{align*}\NL_n^{(k)}-L_m^{(k)}=2\cdot 3^{a},\N\end{align*}\Nin nonnegative integers \( (a,m,n,k) \) are \( (2,1,5,3) \), \( (3,5,7,3) \), and \( (3,7,8,3) \).\N\NThe proof of main result follows from a cleaver combination of techniques in number theory, the usual properties of the \( k \)-generalized Lucas sequence, the theory of nonzero lower bounds for linear forms in logarithms of algebraic numbers, and reduction techniques involving the theory of continued fractions. All computations are done with the aid of a simple computer program in \texttt{Mathematica}.