arXiv subjects

Bryce Kerr

Publications and source records attributed to Bryce Kerr.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Large values of $L(\sigma,\chi)$ for subgroups of characters

We obtain (conditional and unconditional) results on large values of $L$-functions $L(s,\chi)$ in the critical strip $1/2 \leq \Re s \leq 1$ when the character $\chi$ runs through a thin subgroup of all characters modulo an integer $q$. Some of these bounds are based on new zero-density estimates on average over a subgroup of characters. These bounds follow from a mean value estimate for character sums, which is based on the work of D. R. Heath-Brown (1979). As yet another application of this mean value estimate, we obtain an unconditional version of a conditional (on the Generalised Riemann Hypothesis) result of Z. Rudnick and A. Zaharescu (2000) about gaps between primitive roots.

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arXiv2026

The infinitude of square-free palindromes

We settle an open problem regarding palindromes; that is, positive integers which are the same when written forwards and backwards. In particular, we prove that for any fixed base $b\geq 2$, there exist infinitely many square-free palindromes in base $b$. We also provide an asymptotic expression for the number of such integers $\leq x$. The core of our proof utilises a hybrid $p$-adic/Archimedean van der Corput process, used in conjunction with an equidistribution estimate of Tuxanidy and Panario, as well as an elementary argument of Cilleruelo, Luca and Shparlinski.

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arXiv2025

The determination of norm-Euclidean cyclic cubic fields

It is known on the Generalised Riemann Hypothesis that there are precisely $13$ cyclic cubic fields that are norm-Euclidean. Unconditionally, there is a gap between analytic estimates which hold for all sufficiently large conductors and computational techniques. In this paper, we establish new results concerning explicit bounds for cubic non-residues and refine previous computational techniques, enabling us to completely characterise all norm-Euclidean cyclic cubic fields.

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arXiv2025

Metric Poissonian pair correlation for real sequences and energy estimates

We establish new conditions under which a sequence of real numbers has metric Poissonian pair correlation. These conditions strengthen results of Aistleitner, El-Baz and Munsch (2021) and resolve one of their open problems under a mild growth assumption. As applications, we show that quantitatively convex and polynomial sequences have metric Poissonian pair correlation.

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arXiv2024

Zeros of $L$-functions and large partial sums of Dirichlet coefficients

Let $L(s,\pi)=\sum_{n=1}^{\infty}\lambda_{\pi}(n)n^{-s}$ be an $L$-function that satisfies a weak form of the generalized Ramanujan conjecture. We prove that large partial sums of $\lambda_{\pi}(n)$ strongly repel the low-lying zeros of $L(s,\pi)$ away from the critical line. Our results extend and quantitatively improve preceding work of Granville and Soundararajan.

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arXiv2023

Bohr sets generated by polynomials and Coppersmith's method in many variables

We obtain bounds on the average size of Bohr sets with coefficients parametrised by polynomials over finite fields and obtain a series of general results and also some sharper results for specific sets which are important for applications to computer science. In particular, we use our estimates to show that a heuristic assumption used in the many variable version of Coppersmith's method holds with high probability. We demonstrate the use of our results on the approximate greatest common divisor problem and obtain a fully rigorous version of the heuristic algorithm of H. Cohn and N. Heninger (2013).

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arXiv2023

Lattices in function fields and applications

In recent decades, the use of ideas from Minkowski's Geometry of Numbers has gained recognition as a helpful tool in bounding the number of solutions to modular congruences with variables from short intervals. In 1941, Mahler introduced an analogue to the Geometry of Numbers in function fields over finite fields. Here, we build on Mahler's ideas and develop results useful for bounding the sizes of intersections of lattices and convex bodies in $\mathbb{F}_q((1/T))^d$, which are more precise than what is known over $\mathbb{R}^d$. These results are then applied to various problems regarding bounding the number of solutions to congruences in $\mathbb{F}_q[T]$, such as the number of points on polynomial curves in low dimensional subspaces of finite fields. Our results improve on a number of previous bounds due to Bagshaw, Cilleruelo, Shparlinski and Zumalac\'{a}rregui. We also present previous techniques developed by various authors for estimating certain energy/point counts in a unified manner.

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arXiv2023

Weyl sums with multiplicative coefficients and joint equidistribution

In this paper we generalize a result of Montgomery and Vaughan regarding exponential sums with multiplicative coefcients to the setting of Weyl sums. As applications, we establish a joint equidistribution result for roots of polynomial congruences and polynomial values and obtain some new results for mixed character sums.

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arXiv2023

Large values of the error term in the prime number theorem

Assume the Riemann hypothesis throughout. We obtain some new estimates for the size of the set of large values of the error term in the prime number theorem. Our argument is based on an analysis of the behavior of zeros of the Riemann zeta function in Bohr sets.

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arXiv2022

How negative can $\sum_{n\le x}\frac{f(n)}{n}$ be?

Tur\'an observed that logarithmic partial sums $\sum_{n\le x}\frac{f(n)}{n}$ of completely multiplicative functions (in the particular case of the Liouville function $f(n)=\lambda(n)$) tend to be positive. We develop a general approach to prove two results aiming to explain this phenomena. Firstly, we show that for every $\varepsilon>0$ there exists some $x_0\ge 1,$ such that for any completely multiplicative function $f$ satisfying $-1\le f(n)\le 1$, we have $$\sum_{n\le x}\frac{f(n)}{n}\ge -\frac{1}{(\log\log{x})^{1-\varepsilon}}, \quad x\ge x_0.$$ This improves a previous bound due to Granville and Soundararajan. Secondly, we show that if $f$ is a typical (random) completely multiplicative function $f:\mathbb{N}\to \{-1,1\}$, the probability that $\sum_{n\le x}\frac{f(n)}{n}$ is negative for a given large $x,$ is $O(\exp(-\exp(\frac{\log x\cdot \log\log\log x}{C\log \log x}))).$ This improves on recent work of Angelo and Xu.

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arXiv2022

Bounds on bilinear forms with Kloosterman sums

We prove new bounds on bilinear forms with Kloosterman sums, complementing and improving a series of results by \'E. Fouvry, E. Kowalski and Ph. Michel (2014), V. Blomer, \'E. Fouvry, E. Kowalski, Ph. Michel and D. Mili\'cevi\'c (2017), E. Kowalski, Ph. Michel and W. Sawin (2019, 2020) and I. E. Shparlinski (2019). These improvements rely on new estimates for Type II bilinear forms with incomplete Kloosterman sums. We also establish new estimates for bilinear forms with one variable from an arbitrary set by introducing techniques from additive combinatorics over prime fields. Some of these bounds have found a crucial application in the recent work of Wu (2020) on asymptotic formulas for the fourth moments of Dirichlet $L$-functions. As new applications, an estimate for higher moments of averages of Kloosterman sums and the distribution of divisor function in a family of arithmetic progressions are also given.

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arXiv2021

Energy bounds for modular roots and their applications

We generalise and improve some recent bounds for additive energies of modular roots. Our arguments use a variety of techniques, including those from additive combinatorics, algebraic number theory and the geometry of numbers. We give applications of these results to new bounds on correlations between {\it Sali{\'e}} sums and to a new equidistribution estimate for the set of modular roots of primes.

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arXiv2021

On the cubic Weyl sum

We obtain an estimate for the cubic Weyl sum which improves the bound obtained from Weyl differencing for short ranges of summation. In particular, we show that for any $\varepsilon>0$ there exists some $\delta>0$ such that for any coprime integers $a,q$ and real number $\gamma$ we have \begin{align*} \sum_{1\le n \le N}e\left(\frac{an^3}{q}+\gamma n\right)\ll (qN)^{1/4} q^{-\delta}, \end{align*} provided $q^{1/3+\varepsilon}\le N \le q^{1/2-\varepsilon}$. Our argument builds on some ideas of Enflo.

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arXiv2020

Metric theory of Weyl sums

We prove that there exist positive constants $C$ and $c$ such that for any integer $d \ge 2$ the set of ${\mathbf x}\in [0,1)^d$ satisfying $$ cN^{1/2}\le \left|\sum^N_{n=1}\exp\left (2 \pi i \left (x_1n+\ldots+x_d n^d\right)\right) \right|\le C N^{1/2}$$ for infinitely many natural numbers $N$ is of full Lebesque measure. This substantially improves the previous results where similar sets have been measured in terms of the Hausdorff dimension. We also obtain similar bounds for exponential sums with monomials $xn^d$ when $d\neq 4$. Finally, we obtain lower bounds for the Hausdorff dimension of large values of general exponential polynomials.

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arXiv2020

On elements of large order of elliptic curves and multiplicative dependent images of rational functions over finite fields

Let $E_1$ and $E_2$ be elliptic curves in Legendre form with integer parameters. We show there exists a constant $C$ such that for almost all primes, for all but at most $C$ pairs of points on the reduction of $E_1 \times E_2$ modulo $p$ having equal $x$ coordinate, at least one among $P_1$ and $P_2$ has a large group order. We also show similar abundance over finite fields of elements whose images under the reduction modulo $p$ of a finite set of rational functions have large multiplicative orders

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arXiv2020

An effective local-global principle for algebraic varieties and the sum product problem in finite fields

We use recent results about linking the number of zeros on algebraic varieties over $\mathbb{C}$, defined by polynomials with integer coefficients, and on their reductions modulo sufficiently large primes to study congruences with products and reciprocals of linear forms. This allows us to make some progress towards a question of B. Murphy, G. Petridis, O. Roche-Newton, M. Rudnev and I. D. Shkredov (2019) on an extreme case of the Erd\H{o}s-Szemer\'{e}di conjecture in finite fields.

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arXiv2020

Metric theory of lower bounds on Weyl sums

We prove that the Hausdorff dimension of the set $\mathbf{x}\in [0,1)^d$, such that $$ \left|\sum_{n=1}^N \exp\left(2 \pi i\left(x_1n+\ldots+x_d n^d\right)\right) \right|\ge c N^{1/2} $$ holds for infinitely many natural numbers $N$, is at least $d-1/2d$ for $d \ge 3$ and at least $3/2$ for $d=2$, where $c$ is a constant depending only on $d$. This improves the previous lower bound of the first and third authors for $d\ge 3$. We also obtain similar bounds for the Hausdorff dimension of the set of large sums with monomials $xn^d$.

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arXiv2020

On digits of Mersenne numbers

Motivated by recently developed interest to the distribution of $q$-ary digits of Mersenne numbers $M_p = 2^p-1$, where $p$ is prime, we estimate rational exponential sums with $M_p$, $p \leq X$, modulo a large power of a fixed odd prime $q$. In turn this immediately implies the normality of strings of $q$-ary digits amongst about $(\log X)^{3/2+o(1)}$ rightmost digits of $M_p$, $p \leq X$. Previous results imply this only for about $(\log X)^{1+o(1)}$ rightmost digits.

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