Congruence conditions on the number of terms in sums of consecutive squared integers equal to squared integers

Abstract

Considering the problem of finding all the integer solutions of the sum of $M$ consecutive integer squares starting at $a^{2}$ being equal to a squared integer $s^{2}$, it is shown that this problem has no solutions if $M\equiv3,5,6,7,8$ or $10 (mod\,12)$ and has integer solutions if $M\equiv0,9,24$ or $33 (mod\,72)$; or $M\equiv1,2$ or $16 (mod\,24)$; or $M\equiv11 (mod\,12)$. All the allowed values of $M$ are characterized using necessary conditions. If $M$ is a square itself, then $M\equiv1 (mod\,24)$ and $(M-1)/24$ are all pentagonal numbers, except the first two.