On Karatsuba's problem concerning the divisor function (Q691028)

Let \(\tau(n)\) denote the number of positive divisors of \(n\) and \(a\geq 1\) be a fixed integer. The aim of this paper is to investigate the sum \[ S_a(x):= \sum_{n\leq x} {\tau(n)\over\tau(n+ a)}. \] In [Monatsh. Math. 154, No. 1, 59--69 (2008; Zbl 1241.11115)]. \textit{F. Luca} and \textit{I. E. Shparlinski} answered a question posed by A. A. Karatsuba by proving that \[ x\sqrt{\ln x}\ll S_1(x)\ll x\sqrt{\ln x}. \] The present author proves that for any fixed integer \(a\geq 1\), \[ S_a(x)= K(a) x\sqrt{\ln x}+ O(x\ln\ln x), \] where the constant \(K(a)\) is given explicitly. The proofs are set out in a series of lemmas and involve intricate and detailed analytical arguments and the manipulation of various complicated multiple sums. The main term arises from estimating the sum \[ V_a(x)= 2 \sum_{q\leq y}\;\sum_{1\leq n\leq x} {1\over\tau(n)}, \] where \(y=\sqrt{x}(\ln x)^{-4}\) with \(A>0\). The paper ends with a table of values of \(K(a)\) for \(1\leq a\leq 20\).