On the average sum of the \(k\) th divisor function over values of quadratic polynomials (Q2046850)

For any integer \(k\ge 2\), let \(\tau_k\) denote the \(k\)th divisor function (\(\tau_k(m)\) is the number of factorizations of \(m\) into \(k\) positive integers, \(\tau_k(0)=0\)). For \(F({\mathbf x})\in \mathbb{Z}[x_1, x_2, \dots, x_n]\) consider the sum \[ T_k(F(\mathbf x), X) = \sum_{\substack{|F(\mathbf x)|\le X \\ \mathbf x \in \mathbb{Z}^n}} \tau_k(|F(\mathbf x)|). \] The most studied case is \(k=n=2\). E.g., as \(X\to \infty\), asymptotic formulae were proved by \textit{G. Greaves} [Acta Arith. 17, 1--28 (1970; Zbl 0198.37903)] for binary irreducible cubic forms, and by \textit{S. Daniel} [J. reine angew. Math. 507, 107--129 (1999; Zbl 0913.11041)] for irreducible quartic forms. For \(k=2\) and \(n=3\), see \textit{R. Guo} and \textit{W. Zhai} [Acta Arith. 156, 101--121 (2012; Zbl 1270.11099)]. After many other papers dealing with diagonal forms, \textit{H. Liu} [Lith. Math. J. 59, 169--184 (2019; Zbl 1447.11105)] obtained an asymptotic formula for \(T_2(F(\mathbf x), X)\) for any nonsingular quadratic form \(F\) in \(n\ge 3\) variables. For \(k=3\), see \textit{J. B. Friedlander} and \textit{H. Iwaniec} [J. reine angew. Math. 601, 109--137 (2006; Zbl 1129.11041)], \textit{Q. Sun} and \textit{D. Zhang} [J. Number Theory 168, 215--246 (2016; Zbl 1396.11117)]. Let \(n\ge 3\) and \(F({\mathbf x})\in \mathbb{Z}[x_1, x_2, \dots, x_n]\) be an \(n\)-variable quadratic polynomial (not necessarily homogeneous) with a nonsingular quadratic part. In the paper under review the authors derive an asymptotic formula for the sum \[\Sigma_{k, F}(X; \mathcal B) = \sum_{\mathbf x \in X \mathcal B \cap \mathbb{Z}^n } \tau_k(F(\mathbf x))\] as \(X\to \infty\), where \(\mathcal B \subset \mathbb{R}^n\) is an \(n\)-dimensional box such that \(\min_{\mathbf x\in X\mathcal B}F(\mathbf x)\ge 0\) for all sufficiently large \(X\) and \(k\ge 2\). The proof uses the circle method.