Squarefree polynomials with prescribed coefficients (Q1747219)

Consider the positive \((n+1)\)-digit integers \[ m = a_0 + a_1q + \dots + a_{n-1}q^{n-1} + a_nq^n \] in a certain fixed base \(q\). The problem of studying the behavior of an arithmetic function over the integers \(m\) whose vector of digits lies in some `box' \[ B := \big\{(a_0, \dots, a_n) \in S_0 \times \dots \times S_n \;| \;S_i \subseteq \{0,1, \dots, q-1\}, \;0 \leq i \leq n \big\} \] is a very broad problem in analytic number theory. \textit{P. Erdős} et al. posed the following problem in [J. Number Theory 70, No. 2, 99--120 (1998; Zbl 0923.11024)], which has been solved affirmatively for small values of \(q\). Problem 0.1 Is there (for infinitely many values of \(n\)) a squarefree integer in the box given by \(S_i := \{0,1\}\) for all \(0 \leq i \leq n -1\) and \(S_n = \{1\}\)? The function field analog of the setup, where the digits are replaced by the coefficients of a polynomial \[ m(T) = a_0 + a_1T + \dots + a_{n-1}T^{n-1} + a_nT^n \] over a finite field \(\mathbb{F}_q\), has also received a lot of attention. In this paper, the authors contribute to the study of the function field analog by giving lower bounds on the number of squarefrees in `sparse' boxes. A box \(S_0 \times \dots \times S_n\) is sparse if each \(S_i\) (for \(0 \leq i \leq n\)) is very small compared to \(q\). Their first result solves a function field analog of Problem 0.1. Theorem 0.2 Let \(n > 1\) be an integer, and let \(S_0, \dots, S_{n}\) be subsets of a finite field \(\mathbb{F}\) with \[ (1) |S_0|, |S_n| = 1, \quad S_n \neq \{0\}, \quad |S_1|, \dots, |S_{n-1}| = 3. \] Then there exist \(a_0 \in S_0, \dots, a_{n} \in S_{n}\) such that \[ m(T) = a_0 + a_1T + \dots + a_{n-1}T^{n-1} + a_nT^n \] is a squarefree polynomial over \(\mathbb{F}\). Moreover, if the characteristic of \(\mathbb{F}\) is \(2\), we can replace the last condition in (1) by the weaker assumption that \[ |S_1|, \dots, |S_{n-1}| = 2. \] In particular, for any distinct \(0 \neq a, b \in \mathbb{F}\) we can take \(S_i := \{a,b\}\) for all \(0 \leq i \leq n-1\) and \(S_n = \{a\}\) as in Problem 0.1. The authors also obtain a variant of Theorem 0.2 that guarantees the existence of squarefrees in even sparser boxes (when the cardinality of the field is large compared to the degree). Theorem 0.3 Let \(\mathbb{F}\) be a finite field of characteristic \(p\), let \(n > 2\) be an integer not congruent to \(2\) mod \(p\), and let \(S_0, \dots, S_{n}\) be subsets of \(\mathbb{F}\) with \[ |S_1|, |S_{n-1}| = n, \quad \forall i \notin\{1,n-1\} \;|S_i| = 1, \quad S_n \neq \{0\}. \] Then there exist \(a_0 \in S_0, \dots, a_{n} \in S_{n}\) such that \[ m(T) = \sum_{i=0}^n a_iT^i \] is a squarefree polynomial over \(\mathbb{F}\). The authors show that (in the large finite field limit) almost every polynomial in a cube is squarefree. Corollary Fix an integer \(n > 1\). For every finite field \(\mathbb{F}\) pick subsets \(S_0 = S_0(\mathbb{F}), \dots, S_n = S_n(\mathbb{F}) \subseteq \mathbb{F}\) having the same cardinality \(C(\mathbb{F})\) such that \[ \lim_{|\mathbb{F}| \to \infty} C(\mathbb{F}) = \infty. \] Then \[ \lim_{|\mathbb{F}| \to \infty} \frac{\# \big\{(a_0, \dots, a_n) \in S_0 \times \dots \times S_n : \sum_{i=0}^n a_iT^i \;\text{is squarefree} \big\}} {\# (S_0 \times \dots \times S_n)} = 1. \]