Small solutions of quadratic congruences, and character sums with binary quadratic forms (Q2810740)

Let \(q\) be an integer at least 2 and let \(Q(\mathbf x)\) be an integral quadratic form in \(n\) variables. Set NEWLINE\[NEWLINE \begin{aligned} m(Q; q) &:=\min\{ ||\mathbf x|| : \mathbf x\in\mathbb Z^n\setminus\{0\}, Q(\mathbf x)\equiv 0\pmod{q}\}\\ B_n(q) &:=\max_{Q} m(Q; q), \end{aligned} NEWLINE\]NEWLINE where the maximum is over all forms \(Q\). It is known that \(B_3(q)\ll q^{2/3}\) and, from the example \(Q_0=(x_1-bx_2)^2-a(x_2-bx_3)^2\), that for \(q\) square-free, \(B_3(q)\geq q^{2/3}+O(q^{1/3})\). Thus the order of magnitude for \(B_3(q)\), square-free \(q\), is \(q^{2/3}\).NEWLINENEWLINENote that the example \(Q_0\) is singular. The author considers NEWLINE\[NEWLINE B_3^*(q)=\max_Q m(Q; q), NEWLINE\]NEWLINE where the maximum is now over those ternary forms \(Q\) with \((\det (Q), q)=1\). The main result is, for \(q\) odd and square-free, and given \(\epsilon>0\), that \(B_3^*(q)\ll_{\epsilon} q^{5/8+\epsilon}\). This is below \(2/3\), the limiting exponent for \(B_3(q)\). The proof depends on extending a bound due to \textit{M.-C. Chang} [Geom. Funct. Anal. 19, No. 4, 1001--1016 (2009; Zbl 1207.11083)] to a bound on \(\sum_{(x,y)\in C} \chi(Q(x,y))\), where \(C\subset\mathbb R^2\) is a convex set in a disc of a given radius, \(Q\) is a binary form with \((\det (Q), q)=1\) and \(\chi\) a primitive character to \(q\).