On the four-dimensional divisor problem of \((a,b,c,c)\) type (Q2637421)

Let \(1\leq a\leq b< c\) be fixed positive integers with no common divisor, and denote by \(d(a,b,c,c; n)\) the number of ways of writing \(n= n^a_1 n^b_2 n^c_3 n^c_4\) with \(n_j\in\mathbb N\) for \(j= 1,2,3,4\). Let \[ A(a,b,c,c;x)= \sum_{n\leq x}d(a,b,c,c; n) \] and \(H(a,b,c,c; x)\) denote the sum of the residues of \(\zeta(as) \zeta(bs) \zeta^2(cs){x^3\over s}\) at \(s={1\over a},{1\over b},{1\over c}\) assuming \(a\neq b\). The aim of this paper is to study the error term \[ \Delta(a,b,c,c;x)= A(a,b,c,c; x)- H(a,b,c,c; x) \] and to obtain under certain conditions an upper bound for it in terms of \(x\), too complicated to state here. The authors' result does not follow from those of \textit{E. Krätzel} in, for example [Acta Math. Hung. 126, No. 3, 258--278 (2010; Zbl 1224.11082)]. For \(n=\prod^r_{j=1} p^{a_j}_j\) let \(d= \prod^r_{j=1} p^{b_j}_j\) with \(b_j|a_j\) for each \(j\); then \(d\) is called an exponential divisor of \(n\); the number of such \(d\) is denoted by \(\varphi^{(e)}(n)\) and in particular \(\varphi^{(e)}(p^a)\) with \(\varphi\) being Euler's function. The authors end their paper by considering the generating function of \(\sum\varphi^{(e)}(n)n^{-s}\) and they deduce a formula for \(\mu\varphi^{(e)}(n)\) with four explicit terms plus an error term which improves earlier results in the literature.