Markoff numbers and ambiguous classes (Q988077)

A triple \((a,b,c)\) of positive integers that satisfies the Markoff equation \[ a^2+b^2+c^2=3abc \] is called Markoff triple and the number \(a\), \(b\), \(c\) are called Markoff numbers. The well known Markoff conjecture states that the maximal element of a Markoff triple uniquely determines the triple. In other words, if \((a_{1},b_{1},c)\) and \((a_{2},b_{2},c)\) are two Markoff triples with \(a_{i}\leq b_{i}\leq c\) for \(i=1,2\), then \(a_{1}=a_{2}\) and \(b_{1}=b_{2}\). In this case \(c\) is said to be unique. In the first part of the paper under review the author gives a new elementary proof of the uniqueness of \(c\) in the case when \(c=p^{n}\) or \(c=2p^{n}\), where \(p\) is a prime. Using the same method the author also tackles the case when \(c\) is a Markoff number such that the greatest odd divisor of either \(3c-2\) or \(3c+2\) is a prime power. In the proofs of the mentioned theorems only the simplest properties of Markoff triples and gcd considerations are used. In the second part of the paper the author consider the class group of forms of discriminant \(d=9c^2-4\) and proves that if every ambiguous form in the principal genus correspond to a divisor of \(3c-2\), then the Markoff conjecture is true for \(c\). As an application of this result the author obtains an interesting criteria in terms of Legendre symbols of primes dividing \(d\) under which the Markoff conjecture holds.