Four rational squares in arithmetic progressions and a family of elliptic curves with positive Mordell-Weil rank (Q2663614)

This paper studies the problem of four rational squares in arithmetic progression. The problem is equivalently formuated as a problem of finding rational poiints on certain elliptic curves. The correspondence between rational squares in arithmetic progressions and elliptic curves are explored. Given \(k, \ell, m\in\mathbb{N}\), we say that the four squares \(\alpha^2, \beta^2,\gamma^2\) and \(\delta^2\) of \(\alpha,\beta,\gamma, \delta\in\mathbb{Q}\) form a progression of type \((k,\ell,m)\) if there is a \(s\in\mathbb{Q}\), \(s>0\) such that \(\beta^2-\alpha^2=ks,\, \gamma^2-\beta^2=\ell s\) and \(\delta^2-\gamma^2=ms\). If \(s=0\), such a triple \((k,\ell,m)\) is called trivial. Given \(k,\ell,m\in\mathbb{N}\), let \(E_{k,\ell,m}\) denote the set of points \((X,Y,T)\in\mathbb{P}^2(\mathbb{C}\) such that \(Y^2T=X(X+kmT)(X+(k+\ell)(\ell+m)T)\), and let \(T_{k,\ell,m}\) be the torsion subgroup of the Mordell-Weil group of \(E_{k,\ell,m}\). There are only four possibilites for \(T_{k,\ell,m}\), namely, \(\mathbb{Z}_2\times\mathbb{Z}_2\) (the generic case), \(\mathbb{Z}_2\times\mathbb{Z}_4\), \(\mathbb{Z}_2\times \mathbb{Z}_8\) and \(\mathbb{Z}_2\times\mathbb{Z}_6\). The main results of this article are the existence results for nontrivial arithmetic progessions of type \((k,\ell,m)\). Theorem. Assume that \((k,\ell,m)\) is a triplet of natural numbers. (1) If \(T_{k,\ell,m}=\mathbb{Z}_2\times\mathbb{Z}_2\), then necessarily \(k\neq m\) and \(E_{k,\ell,m}\) has positive Mordell-Weil rank. Consequently, there are nontrivial progressions of type \((k,\ell,m)\) or \((m,\ell, k)\). (2) Assume that \(k=m\). Let \(k, \ell\) be natural numbers. If there is a Pythagorian triple \((a,b,c)\) such that \(k=a^2, \ell=b^2-a^2\), then \(T_{k,\ell,k}=\mathbb{Z}_2\times\mathbb{Z}_8\) and there is a nontrivial progression of type \((k,\ell,k)\), namely, \(0^2<a^2<b^2<c^2\), and if \(E_{k,\ell, k}\) has Mordell-Weil rank zero, there are no other nontrivial progressions. In all other cases, \(T_{k,\ell,k}=\mathbb{Z}_2\times\mathbb{ Z}_4\), and a nontrivial progession of type \((k,\ell,k)\) exists if and only if \(E_{k,\ell,k}\) has positive Mordell-Weil rank. (3) Assume \((k,\ell,m)\) is a triplet with \(k\neq m\). If \(T_{k,\ell,m}=\mathbb{Z}_2\times\mathbb{Z}_4\). Then \(E_{k,\ell,m}\) has positive Mordell-Weil rank, and hence there are nontrivial progressions of type \((k,\ell,m)\) or \((m,\ell, k)\). If \(T_{k,\ell,m}=\mathbb{Z}_2\times\mathbb{Z}_8\), then there is at least one nontrivial progression of type \((k,\ell, m)\) or \((m,\ell,k)\). If \(E_{k,\ell,m}\) has Mordell-Weil rank zero, there is only one such progression. (4) Given nautral numbers \(\alpha, \beta\) with \(\alpha<\beta\), let \(k:=\alpha^2,\ell:=\beta^2\alpha^2\) and \(m:=\alpha(\alpha+2\beta)\). Then \(T_{k,\ell,m}=\mathbb{Z}_2\times\mathbb{Z}_6\), and there is a nontrivial progression of type \((k,\ell,m)\). If \(E_{k,\ell,m}\) has Mordell-Weil rank zero, this is the only such progression, and there is no nontrivial progression of type \((m,\ell,k)\).