Power-free values of strongly \(q\)-additive functions (Q2316538)

A strongly \(q\)-additive function \(f:\mathbb N\rightarrow\mathbb R\) is defined by the property that \(f(q^jn+b)=f(n)+f(b)\) for all nonnegative integers \(b,j,n\) satisfying \(0\leq b<q^j\). A \(k\)-free integer \(n\) has the property that \(m^k\nmid n\) for all integers \(m>1\). In Theorems~1.3 and~1.5, the authors study in particular the following questions: how many integers \(n\leq x\) resp. primes \(p\leq x\) have the property that \(f(n)\) resp. \(f(p)\) is \(k\)-free? The main result of Section~2, Theorem~2.4, is an extension of the first Gelfond problem, which was settled by \textit{D.-H.~Kim} [J. Number Theory 74, No. 2, 307--336 (1999; Zbl 0920.11067)]. It establishes an asymptotic estimate for the numbers \[ \Xi=\bigl\lvert\bigl\{1\leq n\leq x:n\equiv l\bmod r, f(n)\equiv a\bmod b\bigr\}\bigr\rvert. \] Another interesting question is treated in Theorem~4.1: an estimate for the number \[ D_b(x)=\bigl\lvert\bigl\{n\leq x, n\mbox{ is \(k\)-free, }f(n)\equiv a\bmod b\bigr\}\bigr\rvert \] is given. In the last section, the cardinality of the set \[ \bigl\{n\leq x,f(\mathcal P(n))\mbox{ is \(k\)-free}\bigr\} \] is estimated, where \(\mathcal P(n)\) denotes the largest prime factor of \(n\).