Brink, DavidDavidBrinkMoree, PieterPieterMoreeOsburn, RobertRobertOsburn2016-08-232016-08-232011 Mathe2011-10Abhandlungen aus dem Mathematischen Seminar der Universitat Hamburghttp://hdl.handle.net/10197/7828In 1966, Shanks and Schmid investigated the asymptotic behavior of the number of positive integers less than or equal to x which are represented by the quadratic form X-2 + nY(2). Based on some numerical computations, they observed that the constant occurring in the main term appears to be the largest for n = 2. In this paper, we prove that in fact this constant is unbounded as n runs through positive integers with a fixed number of prime divisors.enThe final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12188-011-0059-y.Binary quadratic formsBernays' constantSpecial values of L-seriesQuadratic-formsJournal Article8112913910.1007/s12188-011-0059-y2016-08-10https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/ie/