Transition mean values of real characters (Q1587663)

The double sum \(S(X,Y)= \sum_{m\leq X}\sum _{n\leq Y}({m\over n})\) over values of the Jacobi symbol with \(m\) and \(n\) odd is considered. The critical case is when \(X\) and \(Y\) are of comparable order; on the other hand, if \(Y=o(X/\log X)\) or \(X=o(Y/\log Y)\), then an asymptotic formula for \(S(X,Y)\) can be obtained by elementary arguments. The main result is the formula \[ S(X,Y)=(2/\pi ^2)C(Y/X)X^{3/2}+ O\left ((XY^{7/16}+YX^{7/16})\log (XY)\right), \] where \[ C(\alpha)=\alpha +\alpha ^{3/2} {2\over \pi }\sum_{k=1}^{\infty }k^{-2}\int_0^{1/\alpha }\sqrt{y}\sin (\pi k^2/2y) dy. \] The proof makes use of results from a recent paper by the third named author [Ann. Math. (2) 152, No. 2, 447-488 (2000; Zbl 0964.11034)]. Since \(C(\alpha)=\sqrt{\alpha }+ (\pi /18)\alpha ^{3/2} + O(\alpha ^{5/2})\) as \(\alpha \to 0\), and \(C(\alpha)=\alpha + O(\alpha ^{-1})\) as \(\alpha \to \infty\), the main term dominates even in the transitional region. The derivative of \(C(\alpha)\) is very interesting, for it is related to a function commonly called ``Riemann's nondifferentiable function''. It turns out that \(C'(\alpha)\) is differentiable at a rational point \(\alpha \) if and only if \(\alpha = 2p/q\) with \(p\) and \(q\) odd.