TITLE: Fermat's Last Theorem "$\pm k$"
QUESTION [5 upvotes]: Let $\mathbb{N}=\{1,2,3,\ldots\}$ be the set of positive integers. For $n,k\in\mathbb{N}$ we define  $$\text{Sol}(n,k) = \{(a,b,c)\in \mathbb{N}^3: |a^n + b^n - c^n| \leq k\}.$$ (The set $\text{Sol}(n,k)$ denotes the solutions of the inequality $|a^n + b^n - c^n| \leq k$ for fixed $n,k$.)
Moreover, for $j\in\mathbb{N}$ set $$\text{Inf}(j) =\{n\in \mathbb{N}: \text{Sol}(n,j) \text{ is infinite}\}.$$
Clearly, we have $\{1,2\}\subseteq \text{Inf}(j)$ for all $j\in\mathbb{N}$.
Questions:

Is there $j\in\mathbb{N}$ such that $\text{Inf}(j)\neq \{1,2\}$?
Is there $j\in\mathbb{N}$ such that $\text{Inf}(j)$ is infinite, and what is the smallest such $j$?

REPLY [12 votes]: A 4-variable version of the infamous ABC Conjecture says the following: Let $a,b,c,d\in\mathbb{Z}$ be non-zero, satisfy $a+b+c+d=0$ and $\gcd(a,b,c,d)=1$, and no subsum of two or three of $a,b,c,d$ equal to $0$. Then for every $\epsilon>0$ there is a constant $K_\epsilon$ such that 
$$ \max\{|a|,|b|,|c|,|d|\} \le K_\epsilon \prod_{p\mid abcd} p^{1+\epsilon}. $$
Applying this to an expression of the form $a^n+b^n-c^n-k$ gives a very strong bound. Assuming that I haven't made an error (which is quite possible), I think that if $n\ge5$ (and assuming the ABCD conjecture), then for any $k$, the equation
$$ a^n + b^n - c^n = k $$
has only finitely many solutions $a,b,c\in\mathbb{Z}$ with $|a|,|b|,|c|$ distinct and non-zero.
Actually, I guess the same (more or less) should be true for $n=4$. The point is that the surface
$$ x^n+y^n-z^n=k $$
is of general type for $n\ge5$, so the Bombieri-Lang conjecture says that the solutions in rational numbers $(x,y,z)\in\mathbb{Q}^3$ are not Zariski dense (lie on a finite set of curves). This also follows from Vojta's conjecture. And for $n=4$, the equation defines an affine piece of a K3 surface, so Vojta's conjecture implies that the set of integer solutions likewise lies on a finite set of curves. 
So your problem fits into a general framework, and for example, these statements are known if you replace $\mathbb Z$ by the ring of polynomials $\mathbb C[t]$. And as July suggests, you might want to read about how such problems are normally written, since your notation is not at all standard (and somewhat hard to parse).