On a problem of D. H. Lehmer over short intervals (Q2493016)

For an odd prime \(p\), let \(N(a,p)\) denote the number of pairs of integers \(b,c\) of opposite parity in the interval \([1,(p-1)/2]\) with \(bc \equiv a\pmod p\), and for fixed \(a>0\) with \((a,p)=1\), let \(E(a,p)=N (a,p)-(p-1)/8\). The main result of this paper is the asymptotic formula \[ \sum^{p-1}_{a=1}E^2(a,p)=\frac{9}{64}p^2 +O(p^{1+ \varepsilon}), \] valid for every \(\varepsilon >0\). This is a companion to an analogous result of the second author for \(b,c\) in the longer interval \([1,p-1]\).