On a conjecture of Ma (Q817166)

A long-standing conjecture of McFarland states that all abelian \((v,k, \lambda)\)-difference sets with multiplier \(-1\) have parameters satisfying \(v=4(k-\lambda) \), with the single exception \((v,k,\lambda)=(4000,775,150)\). In 1992, \textit{S. L. Ma} [Combinatorica 12, No.~4, 425--432 (1992; Zbl 0769.05023)] reduced this assertion to two conjectures on Diophantine equations, one of which was confirmed by \textit{M. Le} and \textit{Q. Xiang} [J. Comb. Theory, Ser. A 73, No.~1, 181--184 (1996; Zbl 0866.05014)]. The authors address the second conjecture and show that the Diophantine equation in question \[ x^2 = 2^{2b+2}p^{2m} - 2^{b+2}p^{m+r} +1, \] where \(p\) is a fixed odd prime, has at most \(2^{30000}\) solutions in positive integers \(x,b,m,r\).