Density of integers that are the sum of four cubes of primes (Q5940189)

The author establishes that a positive proportion of natural numbers can be represented as a sum of four cubes of prime numbers. That is, on writing \(R(N)\) for the number of natural numbers up to \(N\) that can be written as a sum of four cubes of primes, there exists a positive absolute constant \(\beta\) such that \(R(N)\geq \beta N\) for every large \(N\). For large \(N\), put \(U=N^{1/3}/3\) and \(V=U^{5/6}\), and denote by \(r(l)\) the number of representations of \(l\) in the form \(l=p_1^3+\dots+p_4^3\) with primes \(p_i\) satisfying \(U<p_1\), \(p_2\leq 2U\) and \(V<p_3\), \(p_4\leq 2V\). The crucial part of this paper is to obtain the best possible upper bound for the mean value of \(r(l)^2\). In fact, combining the circle method with a sieve method in a manner applied by \textit{J. Brüdern} [Ann. Sci. Éc. Norm. Supér. (4) 28, 461-476 (1995; Zbl 0839.11045)], the author succeeds in proving that \(\sum_{N/14<l\leq N}r(l)^2\ll UV^4(\log N)^{-8}\). From the latter result, the above theorem follows immediately via a familiar application of Cauchy's inequality in this area.