A short note on sign changes (Q369290)

Write \(\lambda(n)\) for the normalized Fourier coefficients of a Hecke eigenform of even weight for the full modular group. Let \(\delta_j = 2/11, 1/9, 2/27\) for \(j = 2, 3, 4\), respectively. The authors show that, for \(j = 2, 3, 4\) and any \(\varepsilon > 0\), the sequence \((\lambda(n^j))_{n \sim x}\) has at least \(\gg x^{\delta_j - \varepsilon}\) sign changes. The proof is a quick combination of known bounds for \(\sum \lambda^m(n^j)\) with \(m = 1, 2\). The authors also study sign changes of \(q\)-exponents \(c(p)\) of certain generalized modular functions for the congruence subgroup \(\Gamma_0(N)\), showing that, for certain absolute positive constant \(A\), these have at least \(\gg \exp(A \sqrt{\log x})\) sign changes in the interval \([x, 2x]\). The main analytic input for this proof is the prime number theorem for related new form coefficients and their squares.