OFFSET
1,1
COMMENTS
a(n) is the smallest k such that (2*n+1)^k is in A031443.
Conjecture: a(n) != -1 for all n.
For even m, the proportion of 1's in the binary representation of m^k conjecturally converges to less than 1/2, so unless the numbers of 0's and 1's are equal for some small k, it is likely that no such k exists. For m = 2, 6, 10, 12, 14, 38, 42, 44, 46, ... there do exist such small k = 1, 3, 1, 1, 3, 1, 1, 1, 5, ..., respectively.
EXAMPLE
For n = 2, (2*n+1)^k = 5^k in binary is 101, 11001, 1111101, 1001110001 for k = 1, 2, 3, 4. Only the last of these has as many 0's as 1's, so a(2) = 4.
PROG
(Python)
def A364608(n):
k = 0
p = 1
while 2*p.bit_count() != p.bit_length():
k += 1
p *= 2*n+1
return k
CROSSREFS
KEYWORD
nonn,base
AUTHOR
Pontus von Brömssen, Jul 30 2023
STATUS
approved