Uniqueness conjecture for Markov-number continued fractions

Let m>2m>2 be a Markov number, meaning an integer belonging to a triple of positive integers satisfying

x2+y2+z2=3xyz.x^2+y^2+z^2=3xyz.

For coprime positive integers a<ba<b, write b/a=[a1,a2,,an]b/a=[a_1,a_2,\ldots,a_n] as a continued fraction. Uniqueness conjecture. For every Markov number m>2m>2, there exist unique positive integers a<ba<b with gcd(a,b)=1\gcd(a,b)=1 such that

m=a2+b2,2ab<3a,m=a^2+b^2,\qquad 2a\leq b<3a,

and the continued fraction expansion of b/ab/a contains only 11s and 22s.

The source states this as a stronger conjecture than the uniqueness conjecture involving Markov snake graphs; the source gives no resolution.

Sources & referencesView supporting material

Primary source

Ilke Canakci and Ralf Schiffler, “Snake graphs and continued fractions”, arXiv:1711.02461 (2019).

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