On the cubic moment of quadratic Dirichlet \(L\)-functions (Q2388326)

Let \(\chi_D\) be the quadratic Dirichlet character associated to \({\mathbb Q}(\sqrt{D})\) and \(L(s,\chi_D)\) be the associated Dirichlet \(L\)-function. Define \[ Z(s,w)=\sum_{D \, \text{fund. disc.}} \frac{L(s,\chi_D)^3}{| D| ^w} \] where the summation runs over fundamental discriminants. In the paper under review, the author shows that under some technical assumptions, \(Z(1/2,w)\) has a simple pole at \(w=3/4\), and computes the residue which is about \(-0.162\). Under the additional assumption \[ Z(1/2, \sigma_0+it)\ll (2+| t| )^{r+\varepsilon} \] for some positive constants \(r\) and \(\sigma_0\) with \(r<3-4\sigma_0\) and \(1/2<\sigma_0<3/4\), the formula for the cubic moment of \(L(s,\chi_D)\), \[ \sum_{\substack{ | D| \leq x\\ D \, \text{fund. disc.}}} L(1/2,\chi_D)^3 = xR_3(\log x)+bx^{3/4} +O\bigl(x^{\frac{r+\sigma_0}{r+1}+\varepsilon}\bigr), \] is derived. Here \(R_3\) is a polynomial of degree 6 and \(b\approx -0.215\) is a constant. The cubic moment formula with an \(O\)-term was first obtained by Soundararajan, and the novelty here, though conditional at present, lies on the secondary term \(bx^{3/4}\).