The Hooley-Huxley contour method for problems in number fields. III: Frobenian functions (Q1826282)

The author continues his study of Frobenius multiplicative functions initiated in the Part II of the series [Mathematika 49, No. 1--2, 201--225 (2004; Zbl 1066.11049)]. Let \(L\) be a normal extension of a number field \(K\) with the Galois group \(G\). In contrast to Part II however, where complex-valued functions were considered, it is assumed now that functions are defined on the set of fractional ideals of \(K\) and take values in a finite commutative monoid \(M= \{\gamma_1,\dots, \gamma_t\}\). Such a multiplicative function \(\theta\) is called Frobenius if it satisfies the following condition: if the Frobenius classes in \(G\) of different unramified prime ideals \({\mathfrak p}\) and \({\mathfrak q}\) are equal, that is \([(L/K)/{\mathfrak p}]= [(L/K)/{\mathfrak q}]\), then \(\theta({\mathfrak p}^n)= \theta({\mathfrak q}^n)\) for all \(n\geq 1\). The principal goal of the paper is to study the number of solutions of the equation \(\theta({\mathfrak a})= \gamma\) for a fixed \(\gamma\in M\). The main theorem of the paper which is too involved to be reproduced here gives asymptotic expansion for this number when ideals \({\mathfrak a}\) (of the ring of integers of \(K\)) satisfy the following conditions \[ \begin{gathered} x(1- l)\leq N({\mathfrak a})\leq x(1+ l),\\ \Bigg|{\arg\lambda_j({\mathfrak a})\over 2\pi}- \psi_j\Biggr|\leq l\pmod 1\qquad (1\leq l\leq n-1),\end{gathered} \] where \(x^{-\delta}< l< \exp(- \kappa_1(\log x)^{1/3}(\log\log x)^{-1/3})\) for some constant \(\kappa_1> 0\) and explicitly given positive \(\delta\), \(n= [K:\mathbb{Q}]\), \(N({\mathfrak a})\) denotes the norm of \({\mathfrak a},\lambda_1,\dots, \lambda_{n-1}\) are a basis for the torsion-free Hecke characters on \(K\), and \(|\psi_j|\leq 1/2\), \(j= 1,\dots, n-1\) are given real parameters. An interesting special case refers to the well-known Ramanujan's \(\tau\)-function: let \(m> 691\) be a prime and \[ 1> {\log h\over\log x}> 1-{3\over 2((m^2- 1)(m^2- m)+ 3)}, \] then \[ \#\{x< n< x+ h:\tau(n)\not\equiv b\pmod m\} \] has an asymptotic expansion starting with \({c_0h\over (m-1)\Gamma(1-\beta)(\log x)^\beta}\), where \(\Gamma\) is the Euler gamma function, \(c_0\) is a constant independent of \(m\) and \(\beta= m/(m^2- 1)\).