arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to D. R. Heath-Brown.
We show that there are $O(B^{3/5-3/1555+\ep})$ triples $(x,y,z)$ of square-full integesr up to $B$ satisfying the equation $x+y=z$ for any fixed $\ep>0$. This is the first improvement over the `easy' exponent $3/5$, given by Browning and Van Valckenborgh. One new tool is a strong uniform bound for the counting function for equations $aX^3+bY^3=cZ^3$.
We investigate Manin's conjecture for del Pezzo surfaces of degree five with a conic bundle structure, proving matching upper and lower bounds, and the full conjecture in the Galois general case.
For a prime $\ell$, let $h_\ell(K)$ denote the $\ell$-part of the class number of the number field $K$. We investigate upper bounds for $h_\ell(K)$ when $K$ is quadratic or cubic, particularly in the case in which the discriminant of $K$ is smooth. This is achieved using properties of Dirichlet $L$-functions.
We improve the standard Weyl estimate for quartic exponential sums in which the argument is a quadratic irrational. Specifically we show that \[\sum_{n\le N} e(αn^4)\ll_{\ep,α}N^{5/6+\ep}\] for any $\ep>0$ and any quadratic irrational $α\in\R-\Q$. Classically one would have had the exponent $7/8+\ep$ for such $α$. In contrast to the author's earlier work \cite{cubweyl} on cubic Weyl sums (which was conditional on the $abc$-conjecture), we show that the van der Corput $AB$-steps are sufficient for the quartic case, rather than the $BAAB$-process needed for the cubic sum.
We present a general method for handling problems that ask for the equidistribution of solutions to equations involving $m^2+n^2$, and illustrate it by considering $p+m^2+n^2=N$.
We examine the counting function for rational points on conics, and show how the point where the asymptotic behaviour begins depends on the size of the smallest zero.
An asymptotic formula is established for the number of rational points of bounded anticanonical height which lie on a certain Zariski dense subset of the biprojective hypersurface $x_1y_1^2+\dots+x_4y_4^2=0$ in $\mathbb{P}^3\times\mathbb{P}^3$. This confirms the modified Manin conjecture for this variety, in which the removal of a thin set of rational points is allowed.
We show that \[\sum_{\substack{p_n\le x\\ p_{n+1}-p_n\ge\sqrt{p_n}}}(p_{n+1}-p_n)\ll_{\varepsilon} x^{3/5+\varepsilon}\] for any fixed $\varepsilon>0$. This improves a result of Matomäki, in which the exponent was $2/3$.
We give an upper bound for the number of rational points of height at most $B$, lying on a surface defined by a quadratic form $Q$. The bound shows an explicit dependence on $Q$. It is optimal with respect to $B$, and is also optimal for typical forms $Q$.
For any odd prime $\ell$, let $h_\ell(-d)$ denote the $\ell$-part of the class number of the imaginary quadratic field $\mathbb{Q}(\sqrt{-d})$. Nontrivial pointwise upper bounds are known only for $\ell =3$; nontrivial upper bounds for averages of $h_\ell(-d)$ have previously been known only for $\ell =3,5$. In this paper we prove nontrivial upper bounds for the average of $h_\ell(-d)$ for all primes $\ell \geq 7$, as well as nontrivial upper bounds for certain higher moments for all primes $\ell \geq 3$.
For a set $S$ of quadratic polynomials over a finite field, let $C$ be the (infinite) set of arbitrary compositions of elements in $S$. In this paper we show that there are examples with arbitrarily large $S$ such that every polynomial in $C$ is irreducible. As a second result, we give an algorithm to determine whether all the elements in $C$ are irreducible, using only $O( \#S (\log q)^3 q^{1/2} )$ operations.
For a finite field of odd cardinality $q$, we show that the sequence of iterates of $aX^2+c$, starting at $0$, always recurs after $O(q/\log\log q)$ steps. For $X^2+1$ the same is true for any starting value. We suggest that the traditional "Birthday Paradox" model is inappropriate for iterates of $X^3+c$, when $q$ is 2 mod 3.
Let $f_1,\...,f_r$ be polynomials in $n$ variables over a finite field $F$ of cardinality $q$ and characteristic $p$. Let $f_i$ have total degree $d_i$ and define $d=d_1+\...+d_r$. Write $Z$ for the set of common zeros of the $f_i$, over the field $F$. Warning showed that $#(Z\cap H_1)\equiv#(Z\cap H_2)\mod{p}$ for any two parallel affine hyperplanes $H_1,H_2$ in $F^n$. We prove that the same congruence holds to modulus $q$. Warning also proved that $# Z\ge q^{n-d}$ providing that $Z$ is non-empty. We sharpen this inequality in various ways, assuming that $Z$ is not a linear subspace of $F^n$.
We give a slight refinement to the process by which estimates for exponential sums are extracted from bounds for Vinogradov's mean value. Coupling this with the recent works of Wooley, and of Bourgain, Demeter and Guth, providing optimal bounds for the Vinogradov mean value, we produce a powerful new $k$-th derivative estimate. Roughly speaking, this improves the van der Corput estimate for $k\ge 4$. Various corollaries are given, showing for example that $ζ(σ+it)\ll_{\varepsilon}t^{(1-σ)^{3/2}/2+\varepsilon}$ for $t\ge 2$ and $0\leσ\le 1$, for any fixed $\varepsilon>0$.
This is an expository paper, giving a simplified proof of the cubic case of the main conjecture for Vinogradov's mean value theorem.
We prove an asymptotic formula for the number of primes of the shape $a^2 +p^4$, thereby refining the well known work of Friedlander and Iwaniec. Along the way, we prove a result on equidistribution of primes up to $x$, in which the moduli may be almost as large as $x^2$.
We show that there are infinitely many primes $p$ such that not only does $p + 2$ have at most two prime factors, but $p + 6$ also has a bounded number of prime divisors. This refines the well known result of Chen.
This paper proves the Hasse principle and weak approximation for varieties defined by the smooth intersection of three quadratics in at least 19 variables, over arbitrary number fields.