Poissonian correlations of higher orders (Q2109403)

The authors study the concept of the \textit{\(k\)-th order correlation function} of a sequence \((x_n)_{n\in \mathbb{N}} \subset [0,1]\). The main results of the paper, i.e. Theorem 1.1 and Theorem 1.2, are generalisations of results that have been shown earlier [\textit{C. Aistleitner} et al., J. Number Theory 182, 206--220 (2018; Zbl 1415.11106)] for \textit{pair correlations} of sequences. In particular, it is shown in Theorem 1.1. that if the sequence has Poissonian \(k\)-correlations for some \(k\geq 2\), then it is uniformly distributed. Theorem 1.2. can be seen as a quantitative version of Theorem 1.1. based on an asymptotic distribution function of the sequence. The authors explain why their second result is indeed stronger than the first and comment on how the corresponding, earlier result for pair correlations can be strengthened as well. Furthermore, the authors present interesting consequences of their main results. Theorem 1.3 explains that if a sequence fails to have Poissonian \(k\)-th order correlations, then it will also not have Poissonian \(p\)-th order correlations for any \(p\geq k\). Theorem 1.4. generalises earlier results on additive energy [\textit{C. Aistleitner} et al., Isr. J. Math. 222, No. 1, 463--485 (2017; Zbl 1388.11043)]. Finally, Theorem 1.5 sheds (further) light on the connection between sequences with Poissonian correlations and random variables following the Poisson distribution.