An elementary remark on the distribution of integers representable by a positive-definite integral binary quadratic form

Abstract

In this note we prove an elementary result concerning the distribution of the positive integers which are represented by a positive-definite integral binary quadratic form Theorem 1. Let f(X, Y) = aX ~ + b X Y + c y2 be a positive-definite integral binary quadratic form of discriminant - A (= b 2 - 4ac = mi , there exist integers x and y such that n < ax 2 q- bxy + cy 2 < n + 2ml/~A1/4n ~m + m i . P r 0 0 f. Replacing the form f by an equivalent form we may suppose that m~ = c. We define integers x and y by =F(4cn~l/2q I!4cn-Ax2)l/2-bx l x L\~) /' Y= 2c -+1.