A Birch-Goldbach theorem (Q849218)

The authors first show that for any given odd natural numbers \(d_1,\ldots,d_r\), there exists a positive number \(s_0=s_0(d_1,\ldots,d_r)\), depending only on the \(d_i\), with the following property: Whenever \(s>s_0\) and \(f_i\in{\mathbb Q}[x_1,\ldots,x_s]\) is a form of degree \(d_i\) for \(1\leq i\leq r\), there exist fixed integers \(c_1,\ldots,c_s\) with \((c_1,\ldots,c_s)=1\), satisfying the property that the system of equations \(f_i(c_1p_1,\ldots,c_sp_s)=0\) \((1\leq i\leq r)\) possesses infinitely many solutions in prime numbers \(p_1,\ldots,p_s\), not all equal. This theorem may be regarded as a Goldbach analogue of Birch's theorem [\textit{B. J. Birch}, Mathematika 4, 102--105 (1957; Zbl 0081.04501)]. In the latter sense, the presence of the integers \(c_i\) in the above statement might appear somewhat offensive, but the authors give a simple example in which the above conclusion fails to hold without the \(c_i\) (or, with \(c_1=\cdots=c_s=1\)). The permissible choices for \(s_0(d_1,\ldots,d_r)\) above are concretely given in the paper, and in particular, when \(r=1\) and \(d_1=3\), it is shown that one may take \(s_0(3)=36\). The above theorem is derived from the following key lemma: If \(f_i\in{\mathbb Q}[x_1,\ldots,x_s]\) is homogeneous for \(1\leq i\leq r\) and the solution set of system of equations \(f_i({\mathbf x})=0\) \((1\leq i\leq r)\) contains a rational projective line, then there exist integers \(c_1,\ldots,c_s\) with the above property, that is, \((c_1,\ldots,c_s)=1\) and the system of equations \(f_i(c_1p_1,\ldots,c_sp_s)=0\) \((1\leq i\leq r)\) possesses infinitely many solutions in prime numbers \(p_1,\ldots,p_s\), not all equal. The proof of this lemma appeals to the celebrated theorem of Green and Tao concerning long arithmetic progressions formed by primes [\textit{B. Green} and \textit{T. Tao}, Ann. Math. (2) 167, No. 2, 481--547 (2008; Zbl 1191.11025)]. From this key lemma, the authors also deduce the following conclusion on quadratic forms. Suppose that \(Q\in{\mathbb Q}[x_1,\ldots,x_s]\) is a quadratic form having the signature \((r,s-r)\) with \(\min\{r,s-r\}\geq2\), which satisfies either (i) \(s\geq7\), or (ii) the solution set of the quadratic equation \(Q({\mathbf x})=0\) contains a projective line over every local field (\({\mathbb Q}_p\) for every prime \(p\), as well as \({\mathbb R}\)). Then there exists fixed integers \(c_1,\ldots,c_s\) with \((c_1,\ldots,c_s)=1\), satisfying the property that the equation \(Q(c_1p_1,\ldots,c_sp_s)=0\) possesses infinitely many solutions in prime numbers \(p_1,\ldots,p_s\), not all equal.