Problems and results on additive properties of general sequences. I (Q1061166)

Let \(a_1 < a_2 < ...\) be an infinite sequence of positive integers and \(R(n)\) be the number of solutions of \(n = a_i+a_j\). It is proved that, roughly speeking, \(R(n)\) cannot be approximated well by a monotone increasing function. The results and proofs are of Erdős-Fuchs type [\textit{P. Erdős} and \textit{W. H. J. Fuchs}, J. Lond. Math. Soc. 31, 67--73 (1956; Zbl 0070.04104)]. The special case when the approximating function has the shape \(\sum^{K}_{k=1}c_k n^{r_k}\), \(1>r_1>...>r_k>0\) is due to \textit{R. C. Vaughan} [J. Number Theory 4, 1--16 (1972; Zbl 0226.10058)].