Möbius cancellation on polynomial sequences and the quadratic Bateman-Horn conjecture over function fields (Q2152487)

Let \(q\) be a power of an odd prime \(p\) and \(R:=\mathbb{F}_{q}[u]\); for \(g\in R\), let \(d(g)\) be the degree of \(g\) and \(|g|:=q^{d(g)}\). Let \(\mathcal{P}\) stand for the set of the primes (:= monic irreducible polynomials) of \(R\). The authors state the following function field analogue of the Bateman-Horn conjecture: Conjecture 1. Let \(F(T)\in R[T]\) and suppose \(F(T)\) be an irreducible separable monic polynomial, then \[ \text{card}\;\{g\mid g\in R, g\;\text{is monic}, F(g)\in\mathcal{P}, |g|=q^{n}\}\sim\mathfrak{S}(F)\;q^{n}/n\text{ as } n\rightarrow\infty, \] with an explicitly given density \(\mathfrak{S}(F)\). The following theorem is the main result of this work. Theorem 1. If \(q> (96ep^{2})^{2}\), then Conjecture 1 holds true for polynomials \(F(T)\) of degree 2. In the course of the proof of Theorem 1, the authors obtain their second major result. Theorem 2. Let \(k\in\mathbb{N}, q> (2ekp)^{2}, F(T)\in R[T]\), and suppose \(F(T)\) be a separable polynomial of degree \(k\). Then \[ \sum_{f\in R,\; |f|\leq X} \mu (F(f))=o(X)\text{ as }X\rightarrow\infty, \] where \(\mu\) stands for the function field analogue of the Möbius function. Theorem 2 is a function field analogue of Chowla's conjecture. This work may be regarded as a continuation of the authors' previous works: [the authors, Ann. Math. (2) 196, No. 2, 457--506 (2022; Zbl 1499.14038); the first author, Res. Math. Sci. 7, No. 3, Paper No. 12, 32 p. (2020; Zbl 1469.11450)]. According to the authors, the most novel part of the work under review lies in establishing cancellation in short sums of certain special trace functions. The proof of the corresponding estimates relies on the theory of sheaves and trace functions on higher-dimensional varieties and makes use of the heavy machinery of modern arithmetic geometry.