We provide a criterion for the central norm to be any value in the simple continued fraction expansion of $\sqrt{D}$ for any non-square integer $D>1$. We also provide a simple criterion for the solvability of the Pell equation $x^2-Dy^2=-1$ in terms of congruence conditions modulo $D$.

We look at the simple continued fraction expansion of $\sqrt{D}$ for any $D=2^hc $ where $c>1$ is odd with a goal of determining necessary and sufficient conditions for the central norm (as determined by the infrastructure of the underlying real quadratic order therein) to be $2^h$. At the end of the paper, we also address the case where $D=c$ is odd and the central norm of $\sqrt{D}$ is equal to $2$.

The purpose of this article is to provide criteria for the simultaneous solvability of the Diophantine equations $X^2 - DY^2 = c$ and $x^2 - Dy^2 = -c$ when $c \in \mathbb{Z}$, and $D \in \mathbb{N}$ is not a perfect square. This continues work in \cite{me}--\cite{alfnme}.

We study ergodic properties of a family of interval maps that are given as the fractional parts of certain real M\"obius transformations. Included are the maps that are exactly $n$-to-$1$, the classical Gauss map and the Renyi or backward continued fraction map. A new approach is presented for deriving explicit realizations of natural automorphic extensions and their invariant measures.