Simultaneous Diophantine approximation with quadratic and linear forms (Q928471)

Let \(Q\) be a non degenerate indefinite quadratic form on \(\mathbb R^n\), \(n\geq 3\), which is not a scalar multiple of a rational quadratic form. Margulis proved in the mid-1980s, in response to a longstanding conjecture of A. Oppenheim, that the set \(Q(\mathbb Z^n)\) of values of \(Q\) at integer points is a dense subset of \(\mathbb R\) namely, for any \(a\in\mathbb R\) and \(\varepsilon> 0\), there exists \(x\in\mathbb R^n\) such that \(|Q(x)- a|<\varepsilon\). There have been various developments around this result since then, including some quantitative versions of the conjecture. One question in this respect is whether we can specify location requirements for the integral solutions of the Diophantine inequalities \(|Q(x)- a|<\varepsilon\) as above. It is shown here that given \(v_1\) in the cone \(C_Q= \{v\in\mathbb R^n\mid Q(v)= 0\}\), for almost all \(v\in C_Q(\mathbb R v_1\) the following holds: for any \(a\in\mathbb R\), any affine plane \(P\) parallel to the plane of \(v_1\) and \(v\), and \(\varepsilon> 0\) there exist primitive integral \(n\)-tuples \(x\) within \(\varepsilon\) distance of \(P\) for which \(|Q(x)- a|<\varepsilon\). An analogous result is also proved for almost all lines on \(C_Q\).