A hypothetical upper bound on the heights of the solutions of a Diophantine equation with a finite number of solutions
Abstract
Let f(1)=1, and let f(n+1)=22f(n) for every positive integer n. We conjecture that if a system S ⊂eq xi · xj=xk: i,j,k ∈ 1,...,n xi+1=xk: i,k ∈ 1,...,n has only finitely many solutions in non-negative integers x1,...,xn, then each such solution (x1,...,xn) satisfies x1,...,xn ≤ f(2n). We prove: (1) the conjecture implies that there exists an algorithm which takes as input a Diophantine equation, returns an integer, and this integer is greater than the heights of integer (non-negative integer, positive integer, rational) solutions, if the solution set is finite, (2) the conjecture implies that the question whether or not a Diophantine equation has only finitely many rational solutions is decidable with an oracle for deciding whether or not a Diophantine equation has a rational solution, (3) the conjecture implies that the question whether or not a Diophantine equation has only finitely many integer solutions is decidable with an oracle for deciding whether or not a Diophantine equation has an integer solution, (4) the conjecture implies that if a set M ⊂eq N has a finite-fold Diophantine representation, then M is computable.
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