On the variance of squarefree integers in short intervals and arithmetic progressions

Nonreal zeros of (zeta (s)) and (L(s, chi)); Riemann and other hypotheses (11M26) Distribution of integers with specified multiplicative constraints (11N25) Asymptotic results on arithmetic functions (11N37)

Abstract: We evaluate asymptotically the variance of the number of squarefree integers up to

x

in short intervals of length

H < x^{6 / 11 - v a r e p s i l o n}

and the variance of the number of squarefree integers up to

x

in arithmetic progressions modulo

q

with

q > x^{5 / 11 + v a r e p s i l o n}

. On the assumption of respectively the Lindel"of Hypothesis and the Generalized Lindel"of Hypothesis we show that these ranges can be improved to respectively

H < x^{2 / 3 - v a r e p s i l o n}

and

q > x^{1 / 3 + v a r e p s i l o n}

. Furthermore we show that obtaining a bound sharp up to factors of

H^{v a r e p s i l o n}

in the full range

H < x^{1 - v a r e p s i l o n}

is equivalent to the Riemann Hypothesis. These results improve on a result of Hall (1982) for short intervals, and earlier results of Warlimont, Vaughan, Blomer, Nunes and Le Boudec in the case of arithmetic progressions.

Review text

The main theorem in this paper states that if \(0<\delta<1/100\) then \[ \frac{1}{X}\int_X^{2X} \left|\sum_{X<m\le X+H}\mu^2(m)-\frac{6}{\pi^2}H\right|^2dx= C\sqrt{H}+O_{\delta}(H^{1/2-\delta/16}), \] with an explicitly given constant \(C\), for \(1\le H\le X^{6/11-\delta}\). Moreover, under the Lindelöf Hypothesis, one can improve the range to \(1\le H\le X^{2/3-\delta}\). Previously the above was known only for \(H\le X^{2/9-\delta}\), a result due to \textit{R. R. Hall} [Mathematika 29, 7--17 (1982; Zbl 0502.10027)]. The paper also provides an analogous result for the distribution in congruence classes. Thus if \(q\) is prime and \(0<\delta<1/100\) then \[ \frac{1}{\phi(q)}\sum_{(a,q)=1}\left| \sum_{\substack{m\le x\\ m\equiv a(\mathrm{mod}\; q)}}\mu^2(m)- \frac{6}{\pi^2}\cdot\frac{x}{q}\prod_{p\mid q}\frac{p^2}{p^2-1}\right|^2 \] \[ =C\prod_{p\mid q}\frac{p}{p+2}\cdot\sqrt{x/q} +O_{\delta}((x/q)^{1/2-\delta/16}), \] with the same \(C\) as before, for \(x^{5/11+\delta}\le q\le x\). This range can be extended to \(x^{1/3+\delta}\le q\le x\) under the generalized Lindelöf Hypothesis. It is said that the methods of the paper prove the same results without the restriction to prime \(q\). The above estimate improves results of various earlier authors, in particular of \textit{P. Le Boudec} [Math. Z. 290, No. 1--2, 421--429 (2018; Zbl 1459.11185)]. The proofs begin by writing \(\mu^2(m)=\sum_{d^2\mid m}\mu(d)\). Small \(d\) are treated using Fourier expansions and point counting arguments, while large \(d\) are handled via mean and large-values estimates for Dirichlet polynomials.

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