The distribution of integers in a totally real cubic field (Q503728)

Weyl established the equidistribution of fractional parts of \(m\alpha\) when \(\alpha\) is an irrational number and \(m\) runs over the integers. \textit{E. Hecke} [Abh. Math. Semin. Univ. Hamb. 1, 54--76 (1921; JFM 48.0197.03)] studied the special case when \(\alpha\) is a real quadratic irrational. He used the Fourier expansion of the Dirichlet series \[ \sum\limits_{m\ge 1} \left( \{m\alpha\}-\tfrac{1}{2}\right)m^{-s} \] to estimate the sum \[ S_1(n)=\sum\limits_{m\le n} \left(\{m\alpha\}-\tfrac{1}{2}\right). \] \textit{H. Behnke} [Abh. Math. Semin. Univ. Hamb. 2, 81--111 (1923; JFM 49.0699.02)] and \textit{A. Ash} and \textit{S. Friedberg} [Can. J. Math. 59, No. 4, 673--695 (2007; Zbl 1230.11110)] aimed to generalize Hecke's work to an arbitrary totally real field \(K\) of degree \(n\). Let \(\mathcal{O}_K\) be the ring of integers of \(K\), and let Tr\((\mathcal{O}_K)\) be generated by \(\kappa>0\). For positive multiples \(a\) of \(\kappa\), let \(N_a\) denote the number of totally positive integers with trace \(a\). There is a natural approximation \(r_a\) for \(N_a\) using a geometric interpretation. Let \(E_{a}=N_{a}-r_a\) be the error of this approximation. If \(a\) is not a multiple of \(\kappa\), then we set \(E_a=0\). The Dirichlet series \[ \varphi(s)=\sum\limits_{a=1}^{\infty} \frac{E_a}{a^s} \] generalizes the above Dirichlet series for the case of real-quadratic \(\alpha\). Behnke and Ash-Friedberg derived an expression for \(\varphi(s)\) in terms of the Riemann zeta function, Hecke \(L\)-functions and Gamma factors and established a meromorphic continution of \(\varphi(s)\) to \(\Re s>0\). However, in contrast to the case \(n=2\), there exists a dense set of poles on the line \(\Re s=0\) if \(n\ge 3\). A way to obtain information about the average behavior of \(E_a\) is to study the integral \[ \frac{1}{2\pi i} \int_{n+2-i\infty}^{n+2+i\infty} \varphi(s)X^s F(s)\,ds \] for a suitable test function \(F(s)\). To move the line of integration through the dense pole line \(\Re s=0\), the author writes the integrand as a sum of functions which are meromorphic on the whole complex plane. Each summand then contributes a residue term. Now, for the case of cubic fields \((n=3)\), Baker's theorem on linear forms in logarithms is used to establish the convergence of the resulting residue sum. This leads to asymptotic expressions for the sums \[ \sum\limits_{n\le X} E_n \log^k\left(\frac{X}{n}\right) \] in terms of values Hecke of \(L\)-functions at 1.