Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2020/ii/paper-1/1h/solution

An integral positive definite binary quadratic form
is reduced when
with when or . Its discriminant is .
For , reduction gives , so or . Since , is even. If , then forces , and . If , then ; integrality of
leaves and , and the boundary convention retains only . Hence the complete list is
Now suppose the prime is represented by . If , the equation is impossible modulo four, so is odd. The integers and then have opposite parity, and therefore
Also , since otherwise ; hence
The Chinese remainder theorem gives the stronger conclusion
In particular,
as required.

New to topics? Read the docs here!