Values of binary partition function represented by a sum of three squares (Q6171692)

In this article, the authors obtain an explicit characterization of the set, \(S_{n}=\{n\in N:b_{m}(n)\ne x^{2}+y^{2}+z^{2}, \text{ for any } x,y,z \in Z\}\). Thereafter, they primarily focus on the case \(m=2^{k}-1\) for \(k \in N_{+}\) due to the fact that the \(2\)-adic valuation \(\nu_{2}(b_{2^{n}-1}(n))\) is known to be bounded as discussed by \textit{R. F. Churchhouse} [Proc. Camb. Philos. Soc. 66, 371--376 (1969; Zbl 0182.06904)], and \textit{M. Gawron} et al. [Monatsh. Math. 185, No. 2, 307--360 (2018; Zbl 1388.11072)]. Furthermore, the authors are able to determine which terms \(b_{2^{k}-1}(n)\) are of the form \(4^{r}(8s+7)\) through the reduction modulo a suitable power of \(2\). Their analysis is discussed in detailed into three cases such as \(k=1\), \(k=2\) and \(k\ge3\). Further, the authors present quite precise bounds for the counting function of the set \(S_{2^{k}-1}\), and determine its natural density in the processes. In the last section, some questions, problems and conjectures are given, which may be helpful for further study.