5

I. Cuboids

The equation is connected to consecutive cubes equal to a cube like,

$$11^3+12^3+13^3+14^3=20^3$$

Given a cuboid with distinct sides $(a,b,c)=(p^2+q^2-1,\; 2p,\;2q)$,

$\hskip1.7in$enter image description here

such that the sum of the squares of its sides is a square,

$$a^2+b^2+c^2 = (p^2+q^2-1)^2+(2p)^2+(2q)^2 = (p^2+q^2+1)^2$$

We seek those special cuboids such that the product of its sides divided by $2^5$ is a cube,

$$F(p,q)=\frac{abc}{2^5}=\frac{(p^2+q^2-1)(2p)(2q)}{2^5} = \frac{p\,q\,(p^2+q^2-1)}{2^3} = Y^3\tag1$$

which is nicely symmetric in $(p,q)$. Equivalently, it is a sum of $p$ consecutive cubes equal to the same cube,

$$F(p,q)=\sum_{k=0}^{p-1}\Big(\frac{1-p+q}2+k\Big)^3=Y^3\quad\tag2$$

Eq.1 and Eq.2 are just two sides of the same coin. For example, let $(p,q)=(3,8)$, then both yield $Y=6$,

$$F(3,8)=\sum_{k=0}^{3-1}\left(\tfrac{1-3+8}2+k\right)^3 = \sum_{k=0}^{2}\left(3+k\right)^3=3^3+4^3+5^3=6^3$$

Being lengths of a real cuboid, $(p,q)$ is required to be positive, and $\color{blue}{p<q}$ so the initial cube is also positive.


II. Infinite family

There is an infinite family of solutions found in the 1800s when $p$ is a cube,

$$p = v^3,\quad q=\frac13(v^2 - 1)^2$$

though choose $v\neq 3m\,$ so $q\,$ is an integer.


III. Sporadic solutions

A240970 gives a list of 49 values $p<10^5$. However, after removing 30 $p$ that are cubes, only 19 are left. But there are 2 more $p$ in the comments by Vladimir Pletser, one $p>10^5$ and the other $\color{blue}{p>10^7}$ (How did he find this?), so total of $19+2= 21$. About a third of the $p$ and $q$ are squares (Any underlying reason?).

The complete 21 $(p,q)$ are given below, counting the double solutions of $p=20,99,153$ only once,

$$\frac{p\,q\,(p^2+q^2-1)}{2^3} = Y^3$$

$p_k = 3, 4,\, 20,\, 20,\, 25,\, 49,\, 99,\; 99,\; 153,\; 153,\; 288,\; 1849,\; 6591,\; 10200,\, 13923, 14161, 19220, 21456, 25201, 33124, 49776, 63001, 176824, 11859210.$

$q_k = 8, 25, 25, 49, 36, 630, 120, 1210, 578, 1444, 833, 70304, 7200, 223109, 19942, 17408, 555025, 555025, 118580, 70225, 59535, 85340, 991875, 55278125.$

Note the largest is Pletser's $p=11859210=10\times33^4$. Also, the rather large square $q=555025 =745^2$ appears twice. All but five $p$'s were also found by Oleg567 in this old post.


IV. Question

Sequence A240970 seems to be a brute force search for $p<10^5$. So how did Pletser later find in 2015 a pair with $p>10^5$ and $p>10^7$? Can we find more and does the method imply there are in fact infinitely many non-cube $p$?


V. Updates

Note 1: Presumably an infinite family of elliptic curves is involved. A discussion in the old sci.math can be found here.

Note 2: Tomita found one $p\approx 10^6$ and Ezhov found four $q<10^7$ via exhaustive search, so the total now is $21+1+4=26$ solutions.

Note 3: It is preferred $(p,q)$ are positive integers with opposite parity, since initial cube $a_i=\frac12(1-p+q)$ must be an integer. So Tomita's $(p,q)=(6,6^2)$ and Ezhov's $(p,q)=(7200,92^2)$ in the comments yields half integers in the LHS,

$$\sum_{k=0}^{6-1} = \Big(\frac{31}2+k\Big)^3 = 33^3$$

$$\sum_{k=0}^{7200-1} = \Big(\frac{1265}2+k\Big)^3 = 97980^3$$

which are the only two solutions known so far.

  • $(p,q)=(6,36)$ is a solution? – Tomita Jan 27 '25 at 06:38
  • @Tomita Good catch. I know about that solution but forgot to specify in the post that initial cube $\dfrac{1-p+q}2$ must be an integer. That yields $\dfrac{1-p+q}2 =\dfrac{31}2$ hence the $p=6$ cubes, $$31^3+33^3+35^3+37^3+39^3+41^3 = 66^3$$ which differs by $d=2$, not $d=1$. (That solution is interesting on its own, as I think that is the only primitive one known with $d=2$.) – Tito Piezas III Jan 27 '25 at 06:56
  • @Tomita Pletser's $p>10^7$ is too big to be found by exhaustive search alone. He must have used an elliptic curve, correct? – Tito Piezas III Jan 27 '25 at 07:06
  • He may have used an elliptic curve method or factorization method. Either way, it takes a lot of time. – Tomita Jan 27 '25 at 07:36
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    $(p,q)=(2249390,8218925)$ may be a solution. – Tomita Jan 27 '25 at 12:00
  • @Tomita Wow, first progress since 2015! This is the first in the range $10^6$ and I've verified your $p = 110\times143^2$ and $q = 2717\times55^2$ works. (Virtually all of the $p,q$ have square factors.) Can you convert this as an answer and a description of the method? The method implies there are infinitely many, doesn't it? – Tito Piezas III Jan 27 '25 at 12:11
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    I used the factorization method as follows. Let $p=2^{n1} \cdot 3^{n2} \cdot 5^{n2} \cdots, q=2^{m1} \cdot3^{m2} \cdot 5^{m2} \cdots,$ and check $pq(p^2+q^2-1)$ is cubic? – Tomita Jan 27 '25 at 12:22
  • $(p,q)=(125,192)$ – Guruprasad Jan 27 '25 at 13:14
  • @Guruprasad Thanks, but we are excluding cube $p$ as they belong to an infinite family described in the post. – Tito Piezas III Jan 27 '25 at 13:15
  • @Tomita If in your search, you find another $(p,q)$ with the same parity, pls include them as they are useful for $d=2$. – Tito Piezas III Jan 27 '25 at 13:18
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    @Tito , OK, I will continue the search. – Tomita Jan 27 '25 at 13:30
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    $(p,q)=(153,1444)$ is a solution. – Tomita Jan 27 '25 at 13:44
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    @Tomita Yes, $p=20,99,153$ have two solutions each. Oleg567 observed that in his 2015 answer. – Tito Piezas III Jan 27 '25 at 13:53
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    $(p,q)$=(103823, 1625088), (118580, 7216650), (351231, 1188208), (1012500, 1207296), (1997568, 4214809) – Dmitry Ezhov Jan 28 '25 at 10:57
  • @DmitryEzhov Wow! After 10 years, we finally have new results. Can you convert your comment into an answer with a short description of how you found it, so it can be upvoted? Thanks. – Tito Piezas III Jan 28 '25 at 11:25
  • Sorry, (103823, 1625088) is not valid. – Dmitry Ezhov Jan 28 '25 at 12:38
  • If $p$ , $q$ and $y$ are Rationals. $(p,q,y)$ =$(209/2 , 363/2 , 1881/2)$ , $(363/2, 475/2 , 3135/2)$ – Guruprasad Jan 28 '25 at 23:02

2 Answers2

7

Let $p=2^{n_1} \cdot 3^{n_2} \cdot 5^{n_3} \cdot 7^{n_4} \cdot 11^{n_5} \cdot 13^{n_6} \cdot 17^{n_7} \cdot 19^{n_8} ,$

$q=2^{m_1} \cdot 3^{m_2} \cdot 5^{m_3} \cdot 7^{m_4} \cdot 11^{m_5} \cdot 13^{m_6} \cdot 17^{m_7} \cdot 19^{m_8} $ where $0 \leq (n_1,n_2, \cdots, n_7,n_8)\leq 3 $ and $0 \leq (m_1,m_2, \cdots, m_7,m_8)\leq 3.$

Check $pq(p^2+q^2-1)$ is a cubic integer?

I found a solution $(p,q)=(2249390,8218925)=(2 \cdot 5 \cdot 11^3 \cdot 13^2, 5^2 \cdot 11^3 \cdot 13 \cdot 19).$

By increasing the prime factors, more solutions will be found.


              p, factors
          [3, [3, 1]]
          [4, [2, 2]]
          [20, [2, 2], [5, 1]]
          [25, [5, 2]]
          [49, [7, 2]]
          [99, [3, 2], [11, 1]]
          [153, [3, 2], [17, 1]]
          [288, [2, 5], [3, 2]]
          [849, [3, 1], [283, 1]]
          [6591, [3, 1], [13, 3]]
          [10200, [2, 3], [3, 1], [5, 2], [17, 1]]
          [13923, [3, 2], [7, 1], [13, 1], [17, 1]]
          [14161, [7, 2], [17, 2]]
          [19220, [2, 2], [5, 1], [31, 2]]
          [21456, [2, 4], [3, 2], [149, 1]]
          [25201, [11, 1], [29, 1], [79, 1]]
          [33124, [2, 2], [7, 2], [13, 2]]
          [49776, [2, 4], [3, 1], [17, 1], [61, 1]]
          [63001, [251, 2]]
          [176824, [2, 3], [23, 1], [31, 2]]
          [11859210, [2, 1], [3, 4], [5, 1], [11, 4]]

Tomita
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3

Let $p\to 1/v$, then $v^2=((yv)^3/q - 1)/(q^2 - 1)$ and hyperellratpoints() from pari/gp can help find some $p$.

 my(H,v,p);
 parfor(q= 10^6, 10^7, if(!ispower(q,3),
  H= hyperellratpoints(('x^3/q - 1)/(q^2 - 1), 10^6);
  for(i= 1, #H,
   v= H[i][2];
   if(v>0, if(numerator(v)==1,
    p= 1/v;
    if(!ispower(p,3),
     print("("q","p")")
    )
   ))
  )
 ))

New $(p,q)$=(118580, 7216650), (351231, 1188208), (1012500, 1207296), (1997568, 4214809)

Dmitry Ezhov
  • 1,810
  • Thanks! I was meaning to add the family of elliptic curves from the old sci.math post. By the way, the solutions you gave in the comments: (p,q) =(103823, 1625088), (118580, 7216650), (351231, 1188208), (1012500, 1207296), (1997568, 4214809), kindly include them in your answer for formality. (Except the first which is $p=103823=47^3$ since it is a cube.) – Tito Piezas III Jan 28 '25 at 12:40
  • How long did it take the program to find these new solutions? – Tito Piezas III Jan 28 '25 at 12:43
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    3 hours for me. – Dmitry Ezhov Jan 28 '25 at 12:50
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    @Dmitry, Your method is nice! – Tomita Jan 28 '25 at 23:59
  • @DmitryEzhov I just noticed your bound was $10^6<q<10^7$. Would you be interested in lowering and finding all $q$ LESS than $10^6$? In the cited OEIS sequence, Orr believed there was a missing $p$ in the range $5000<p<7000$, presumably with $q<10^6$. Would you like to do the lower search $10^3<q<10^6$? I assume this would be much faster as the bound is lower? – Tito Piezas III Jan 29 '25 at 10:33
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    (7200, 8464)? – Dmitry Ezhov Jan 29 '25 at 14:24
  • @DmitryEzhov They missed that? Wow. Is that the only new one with $10^3 < q < 10^6$? – Tito Piezas III Jan 30 '25 at 14:33
  • @DmitryEzhov Oh, they have the same parity (both are even). But that is a good result since those are rare too. – Tito Piezas III Jan 30 '25 at 14:43
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    @TitoPiezasIII Yes, this is only one for "height" 10^6 (second parameter of hyperellratpoints). Increasing "height" could potentially provide new solutions. – Dmitry Ezhov Jan 30 '25 at 16:57
  • @DmitryEzhov I answered your question in this post. If there are any questions, feel free to ask there. – Tito Piezas III Jan 31 '25 at 07:28