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Assignment 3 MA506

This document contains 18 math problems assigned for homework. The problems cover topics like continued fractions, quadratic equations, Pythagorean triples, perfect squares, and sums of squares. Students are asked to prove identities, express numbers as continued fractions, determine solutions to equations, find patterns in numbers, and more. The assignment was given by Professor Anupam Saikia for their MA 506 course.

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Abhishek
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34 views

Assignment 3 MA506

This document contains 18 math problems assigned for homework. The problems cover topics like continued fractions, quadratic equations, Pythagorean triples, perfect squares, and sums of squares. Students are asked to prove identities, express numbers as continued fractions, determine solutions to equations, find patterns in numbers, and more. The assignment was given by Professor Anupam Saikia for their MA 506 course.

Uploaded by

Abhishek
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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MA 506: Assignment 3

Instructor: Anupam Saikia

pk
1. If Ck = qk is the k-th convergent of the continued fraction [a0 ; a1 , a2 , . . . , an ], and a0 > 0,
show that
pk qk
= [ak ; ak−1 , . . . a1 , a0 ], = [ak ; ak−1 , . . . a1 ].
pk−1 qk−1
pk
2. If qk is the k-th convergent of the continued fraction [1; 2, 3, . . . , n + 1], show that

pn = npn−1 + npn−2 + (n − 1)pn−3 + . . . + 3p1 + 2p0 + (p0 + 1).

3. If r = [a0 ; a1 , a2 , . . . , an ] > 1, show that


1
= [0; a0 , a1 , . . . , an ].
r
pk
4. If Ck = qk is the k-th convergent of the continued fraction [a0 ; a1 , a2 , . . . , an ], show that
k−1
qk ≥ 2 2 , 2 ≤ k ≤ n.

√
5. Express 23 as a (periodic) continued fraction.

√
6. Express n2 − 2 as a (periodic) continued fraction.

7. Show that there exist infinitely many pairs of positive integers (a, b) such that

a2 + (a + 1)2 = b2 + (b + 1)2 + (b + 2)2 .

8. Let a be a positive integer. Determine the continued fraction of the positive root of
x2 − ax − 1 = 0.

9. Show that a periodic continued fraction represents a quadratic surd (i.e., root of a
quadratic polynomial with integer coefficients).

10. A Pythagorean triple consists of positive integers a, b and c such that a2 + b2 = c2 .


Determine all Pythagorean triples (a, b, c) such that a and b are consecutive integers.
(Hint: first show that a = m2 − n2 , b = 2mn and c = m2 + n2 for some choice of m and
n.)

11. Determine the fundamental solution of x2 − (9n2 + 6)y 2 = 1 where n is a natural number.
pn
12. Let x be an irrational number with convergents qn . For n ≥ 1, show that the convergents
are successively closer to x, i.e.,
pn pn−1
| x− | < | x− |.
qn qn−1
pn
13. Let x be an irrational number with convergents qn . For n ≥ 1, show that the convergents
are successively closer to x, i.e.,
1 pn 1
< | x− | < .
2qn qn+1 qn qn qn+1

14. A natural number n is called triangular if n objects can be arranged in arrays that have
the shape of an equilateral triangle, for example, 1, 3, 6 etc. Determine five triangular
numbers that are perfect squares as well.

15. Determine all non-negative integers a and b such that


   
a a−1
= .
b b+1

16. Show that there are infinitely many positive integers a such that both a + 1 and 3a + 1
are perfect squares.

17. Find all odd cubes which, when increased by the sum of its proper divisors, become a
perfect square (e.g., 73 + (72 + 7 + 1) = 202 ).

18. Observe that 8 = 22 + 22 , 9 = 02 + 32 and 10 = 32 + 1 are three consecutive integers


each of which is a sum of two squares. Show that there are infinitely many such triples
of consecutive integers.

******

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