Representations of integers by an invariant polynomial and unipotent flows

DOI10.1215/S0012-7094-06-13533-0MaRDI QIDQ860112zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Publication date 23 January 2007

Published in Duke Mathematical Journal (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/math/0409506

Diophantine homogeneous polynomial semisimple real algebraic group unipotent flows

Representation problems (11D85) General ternary and quaternary quadratic forms; forms of more than two variables (11E20) Homogeneous flows (37A17)

Abstract: We study a refined version of the Linnik problem on the asymptotic behavior of the number of representations of integer

m

by an integral polynomial as

m

tends to infinity. We assume that the polynomial arises from invariant theory, and use methods from the theory of unipotent flows.

Review text

Let \(f\) be an integral homogeneous polynomial of degree \(d\) in \(n\) variables. A basic problem in Diophantine analytic number theory is to understand the behaviour of the integral representations of integers \(m\) by \(f\) as \(m\) tends to infinity. For each \(m\in\mathbb N\) let \(V_m= \{x\in\mathbb R^n: f(x)= m\}\) be the level variety and \(V(Z)= V_m\cap\mathbb Z^n\). In case, where \(V_m\) is non-compact, the number \(\# V_m(Z)\) may be infinite. In this case one asks if there exists an asymptotic density for \(V_m(Z)\) as \(m\to\infty\). For a compact subset \(\Omega\) of \(V_1\), set \(N_m(f,\Omega)= -\# V_m(Z)\cap \mathbb R^+\Omega\), where \(\mathbb R^+\Omega\) is the radical core \(\{x\in V: tx\in\Omega\) for some \(t\in\mathbb R^+\}\). The question studied in this article is if there exists a sequence of number \(\omega_m\), independent of the compact subset \(\Omega\), such that \(N_m(f, \Omega)\sim_{m\to\infty} \omega_m\text{Vol}(\Omega)\). This formulation is basically due to Linnik. The only known general method is the Hardy-Littlewood circle method. However, for this method to work, the number of variables needs to be much larger than the degree of the polynomial in general. In this paper, the focus is on the polynomials that are invariant under an action of a semisimple real algebraic group. In such cases the level varieties admit actions of a semisimple algebraic group, and the dynamics of such groups play a crucial role in understanding this question. In particular, when \(V_1\) is a homogeneous space of a semisimple real algebraic group with the stabilizer being generated by unipotent flows, a well developed theory of unipotent flows on a homogeneous space of a Lie group can be used. The main tool is Ratner's theorem on the uniform distribution of unipotent flows in a form refined by Dani and Margulis.

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