""" Project Euler Problem 136: https://projecteuler.net/problem=136 Singleton Difference The positive integers, x, y, and z, are consecutive terms of an arithmetic progression. Given that n is a positive integer, the equation, x^2 - y^2 - z^2 = n, has exactly one solution when n = 20: 13^2 - 10^2 - 7^2 = 20. In fact there are twenty-five values of n below one hundred for which the equation has a unique solution. How many values of n less than fifty million have exactly one solution? By change of variables x = y + delta z = y - delta The expression can be rewritten: x^2 - y^2 - z^2 = y * (4 * delta - y) = n The algorithm loops over delta and y, which is restricted in upper and lower limits, to count how many solutions each n has. In the end it is counted how many n's have one solution. """ def solution(n_limit: int = 50 * 10**6) -> int: """ Define n count list and loop over delta, y to get the counts, then check which n has count == 1. >>> solution(3) 0 >>> solution(10) 3 >>> solution(100) 25 >>> solution(110) 27 """ n_sol = [0] * n_limit for delta in range(1, (n_limit + 1) // 4 + 1): for y in range(4 * delta - 1, delta, -1): n = y * (4 * delta - y) if n >= n_limit: break n_sol[n] += 1 ans = 0 for i in range(n_limit): if n_sol[i] == 1: ans += 1 return ans if __name__ == "__main__": print(f"{solution() = }")