The Catalan equation

Abstract: We consider the Catalan equation

x^{p} - y^{q} = 1

in unknowns

x, y, p, q

, where

x, y

are taken from an integral domain

A

of characteristic

0

that is finitely generated as a

m a t h b b Z

-algebra and

p, q > 1

are integers. We give explicit upper bounds for

p

and

q

in terms of the defining parameters of

A

. Our main theorem is a more precise version of a result of Brindza. Brindza also gave inexplicit bounds for

p

and

q

in the special case that

A

is the ring of

S

-integers for some number field

K

. As part of the proof of our main theorem, we will give a less technical proof for this special case with explicit upper bounds for

p

and

q

.

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