On an additive representation associated with the \(L_1\)-norm of an exponential sum (Q2478043)

Let \(f: \mathbb N \to \mathbb N\) be an increasing integer-valued arithmetic function, and let \(J(N)\) denote the number of solutions of the Diophantine equation \[ f(x) + f(y) = f(w) + f(z), \quad 1 \leq w, x, y, z \leq N. \] S. V. Konyagin has shown that if the arithmetic function \(f(x) - f(x - 1)\) is also increasing, then \(J(N) \ll N^{5/2}\). Let \(\mathcal H = \{ f(x) + f(y) \mid 1 \leq x, y \leq N \}\) and, for \(h \in \mathcal H\), let \(m(h)\) denote the multiplicity of \(h\) in \(\mathcal H\). We order the elements \(h_1, h_2, \dots, h_r, \dots\) of \(\mathcal H\) so that \(m(h_r) \geq m(h_{r + 1})\). For \(1 \leq T \leq N\), let \(J(N, T)\) denote the number of solutions of the equation \[ f(x) + f(y) = f(x + t) + f(z), \quad 1 \leq x, y, z \leq N, \;1 \leq t \leq T. \] In this paper, the author establishes the inequality \[ m(h_r) \ll NT^{-1} + r^{-1}J(N, T) + 1 \] for any \(r \geq 1\) and any \(T \leq N\). He then uses this bound to give a new proof of Konyagin's bound for \(J(N)\).