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A076427
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Number of solutions to Pillai's equation a^x - b^y = n, with a>0, b>0, x>1, y>1.
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5
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1, 1, 2, 3, 2, 0, 5, 3, 4, 1, 4, 2, 3, 0, 3, 3, 7, 3, 5, 2, 2, 2, 4, 5, 2, 3, 3, 7, 1, 1, 2, 4, 2, 0, 3, 2, 3, 1, 4, 4, 3, 0, 1, 3, 4, 1, 6, 4, 3, 0, 2, 1, 2, 2, 3, 4, 3, 0, 1, 4, 2, 0, 4, 4, 4, 0, 2, 5, 2, 0, 4, 4, 6, 2, 3, 3, 2, 0, 4, 4, 4, 0, 2, 2, 2, 0, 3, 3, 6, 0, 3, 4, 4, 2, 4, 5, 3, 2, 4, 10
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OFFSET
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1,3
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COMMENTS
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This is the classic Diophantine equation of S. S. Pillai, who conjectured that there are only a finite number of solutions for each n. A generalization of Catalan's conjecture that a^x-b^y=1 has only one solution. For n <=100, a total of 274 solutions were found for perfect powers less than 10^12. No additional solutions were found for perfect powers < 10^18.
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REFERENCES
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R. K. Guy, Unsolved Problems in Number Theory, D9.
T. N. Shorey and R. Tijdeman, Exponential Diophantine Equations, Cambridge University Press, 1986.
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LINKS
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EXAMPLE
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a(4)=3 because there are 3 solutions: 4 = 2^3 - 2^2 = 6^2 - 2^5 = 5^3 - 11^2.
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CROSSREFS
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KEYWORD
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hard,nonn
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AUTHOR
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STATUS
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approved
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