How to find all naturals $n$ such that $\sqrt{1\smash{\underbrace{4\cdots4}_{n\text{ times}}}}$ is an integer?
How to find all naturals $n$ such that $\sqrt{1 {\underbrace{4\cdots4}_{n\text{ times}}}}$ is an integer?
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combinatorics
elementary-number-theory
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0I changed the TeX code from {}_{n-times} to {}_{n\text{ times}, so that instead of $1\underbrace{4\cdots4}_{n-times}$ we see $1\underbrace{4\cdots4}_{n\text{ times}}$. The hyphen looked like a minus sign (longer than a hyphen) since it was in math mode, and the "times" got italicized and needed something to artificially separate it from the $n$, since it was in math mode. – 2012-07-14
1 Answers
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For $n \geq 4$ your number is equal to $4444$ modulo $10000$, and in particular modulo $16$. If it were a square, then $4444$ would be a square modulo $16$, implying $1111$ is a square modulo $4$. But $1111=3$ mod $4$, contradiction.