Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 October 2008
Let
be a real quadratic form in n variables (n ≥ 2) with integral coefficients and determinant D = |fij| ≠ 0. Cassels ((1),(2)) has recently proved that if the equation f = 0 is properly soluble in integers x1, …, xn, then there is a solution satisfying
where F = max | fij and cn depends only on n. An example given by Kneser (see (2)) shows that the exponent ½(n – 1) is best possible. A simpler proof of Cassels's result has since been given by Davenport(3), and the theorem has been improved in certain cases by Watson(4). Here I consider the inequality f(x1, …, xn) > 0, where f is an indefinite form, and obtain a result analogous to that of Cassels.