A mean value theorem for the Diophantine equation \(axy-x-y=n\) (Q663056)

For a fixed positive integer \(a>1\) let \[ R_a (n) = \left\{ (x,y) \in {\mathbb N}^2 : axy - x - y = n\right\}. \] In other words, \(R_a (n)\) denotes the number of positive integer solutions to the Diophantine equation \[ axy-x-y=n \] in which \(a\) is fixed and \(n\) varies. The author proves the following asymptotic formula on the average of \(R_a (n)\) over \(n\): \[ \sum_{0 \leq n \leq N} {R_a (n)} = \frac{1}{a} \left(N \log N - C(a) N\right) + \Delta_a (N) \] where \[ C(a) = 2 \frac{\Gamma' \left(\frac{a-1}{a}\right)}{\Gamma \left(\frac{a-1}{a}\right)} + 2 \sum_{p| a} {\frac{\log p}{p-1}} + \log a + 2 \gamma + 1 \] and \[ \Delta_a (N) \ll \phi (a) \sqrt{\frac{N}{a}} \left(\log (aN)\right)^2. \] Here \(\Gamma (s)\) is the standard \(\Gamma\) function, and \(\gamma\) is Euler's constant. In the proof, complex analytic techniques from multiplicative number theory are employed.