Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 ii Paper 3 1I Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
A reduced positive definite binary quadratic form satisfieswith when or . Its discriminant of a binary quadratic form is . The first displayed inequality already gives , while givesTaking the positive square root yieldsMoreover, , so . For fixed negative , the displayed bounds leave only finitely many possible integers and , and then is uniquely determined. Hence only finitely many reduced forms have discriminant .
For , the bound gives , so . The modular congruence condition makes odd. If , then and ; the boundary convention retains . If , then and ; the boundary convention retains . Thus the complete list is
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 1 1H Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-29
An integral positive definite binary quadratic formis reduced whenwith when or . Its discriminant is .
For , reduction gives , so or . Since , is even. If , then forces , and . If , then ; integrality ofleaves and , and the boundary convention retains only . Hence the complete list is
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2022 ii Paper 2 1I Solution Created 2026-09-23 Updated 2026-09-25
Write an integral binary quadratic form as . It is positive definite when and its discriminant is negative. Two forms are properly equivalent when one is obtained from the other by a change of variables in . A reduced positive definite binary quadratic form satisfieswith when or .
To prove reduction, choose in a proper equivalence class a form whose positive leading coefficient is minimal. Replacing by changes by , so choose to arrange . If the resulting , the determinant-one substitution would put in the leading position, contradicting minimality. Thus . Sign changes on the boundary give the stated convention. Hence every positive definite form is properly equivalent to a reduced one.
A unimodular integral substitution is a bijection of , so properly equivalent forms represent exactly the same integers.
Both given forms have discriminant . Reduction givesThe two reduced forms represent the same integers becausean integral change of variables of determinant . They are not properly equivalent: the uniqueness theorem for reduced positive definite forms says that each proper class has one reduced representative, and . Therefore the original forms represent the same integers but are not equivalent in the required proper sense.