Density of the quasi \(r\)-rank Artin problem (Q2075014)

Let \(\Gamma\) be a finitely generated multiplicative subgroup of the rationals and \(\mathrm{Supp}(\Gamma)\), the set of primes \(p\) dividing no numerator or no denominator of any of the elements of \(\Gamma\). For any prime \(p\not\in \mathrm{Supp}(\Gamma)\), we can consider the reduction group \(\Gamma_p=\{\gamma \bmod p: \gamma\in \Gamma\}\) and view it as a subgroup of the multiplicative group \(\mathbb F_p^*\) of the finite field \(\mathbb F_p\). Given a prescribed integer \(m\), the authors are interested in the set \(\mathcal P(\Gamma;m)\) of primes \(p\) such that \(p\) is not in \(\mathrm{Supp}(\Gamma)\) and the index of \(\Gamma_p\) in \(\mathbb F_p^*\) equals \(m\). Under the Generalized Riemann Hypothesis it is known that this set of primes has a natural density \(\rho(\Gamma,m)\) that is given by \[\rho(\Gamma,m)=\sum_{k\ge 1}\frac{\mu(k)}{[\mathbb Q(\zeta_{mk},\Gamma^{1/mk}):\mathbb Q]},\] with \(\zeta_d=e^{2\pi i/d}\) and \(\Gamma^{1/d}\) the set of real numbers \(\alpha\) such that \(\alpha^d\) is in \(\Gamma\). The main result of the authors explicitly evaluates \(\rho(\Gamma,m)\) as a rational number times the Euler product \[\prod_{\ell}\Big(1-\frac{1}{(\ell-1)|\Gamma.\mathbb Q^{*\ell}/\mathbb Q^{*\ell}|}\Big),\] where the product ranges over the odd primes \(\ell\) not dividing \(m\). This extends on earlier work of the third author who with \textit{A. Susa} [Arch. Math. 101, No. 4, 319--330 (2013; Zbl 1329.11004)] earlier established this result in case \(\Gamma\) contains only positive rational numbers. The authors work out the special case where \(\Gamma=\langle -1,a\rangle\). They are also interested in determining under which conditions \(\rho(\Gamma,m)=0\) and under which conditions \(\mathcal P(\Gamma;m)\) is a finite set. The proofs require algebraic number theory in order to evaluate the field degrees of the Kummer extensions involved and in addition fairly technical manipulations with infinite sums having an argument that is nearly a multiplicative function. The results are complemented by extensive numerical data showing excellent agreement with the theoretical results.