Inverse questions for the large sieve

Let $\lambda$ be a fixed integer, $\lambda\ge 2.$ Let $s_n$ be any strictly increasing sequence of positive integers satisfying $s_n\le n^{15/14+o(1)}.$ In this paper we give a version of the large sieve inequality for the sequence $\lambda^{s_n}.$ In particular, we prove that for $\pi(X)(1+o(1))$ primes $p, \ p\le X,$ the numbers $$ \lambda^{s_n},\quad n\le X(\log X)^{2+\epsilon} $$ are uniformly distributed modulo $p.$

In this paper, we study some topics concerning the additive decompositions of the set $D_k$ of all $k$th power residues modulo a prime $p$. For example, given a positive integer $k\ge2$, we prove that $$\lim_{x\rightarrow+\infty}\frac{B(x)}{\pi(x)}=0,$$ where $\pi(x)$ is the number of primes $p\le x$ and $B(x)$ denotes the cardinality of the set $$\{p\le x: p\equiv1\pmod k; D_k\ \text{has a non-trivial 2-additive decomposition}\}.$$

We show that if a big set of integer points in [0,N]^d, d>1, occupies few residue classes mod p for many primes p, then it must essentially lie in the solution set of some polynomial equation of low degree. This answers a question of Helfgott and Venkatesh.

In this article, we extend our recent work on a Bombieri-Vinogradov-type theorem for sparse sets of prime powers $p^N\le x^{1/4-\varepsilon}$ with $p\le (\log x)^C$ to sparse sets of moduli $s\le x^{1/3-\varepsilon}$ with radical rad$(s)\le x^{9/40}$. To derive our result, we combine our previous method with a Bombieri-Vinogradov-type theorem for general moduli $s\le x^{9/40}$ obtained by Roger Baker.

In this paper we aim to generalize the results in Baier and Zhao and develop a general formula for large sieve with characters to powerful moduli that will be an improvement to the result of Zhao.

We give asymptotic sharp estimates for the cardinality of a set of residue classes with the property that the representation function is bounded by a prescribed number. We then use this to obtain an analogous result for sets of integers, answering an old question of Simon Sidon.

We prove a lower and an upper bound for the large sieve with square moduli for function fields. These bounds correspond to bounds for the classical large sieve with square moduli established in arXiv:1812.05844 by Baier, Lynch and Zhao and arXiv:math/0512271 by Baier and Zhao. Our lower bound in the function field setting contradicts an upper bound obtained in arXiv:1802.03131 by Baier and Singh. Indeed, we point out an error in arXiv:1802.03131.

The distribution of $\alpha p$ modulo one, where $p$ runs over the rational primes and $\alpha$ is a fixed irrational real, has received a lot of attention. It is natural to ask for which exponents $\nu>0$ one can establish the infinitude of primes $p$ satisfying $||\alpha p||\le p^{-\nu}$. The latest record in this regard is Kaisa Matom\"aki's landmark result $\nu=1/3-\varepsilon$ which presents the limit of currently known technology. Recently, Glyn Harman, and, jointly, Ma...

Write $\mathrm{ord}_p(\cdot)$ for the multiplicative order in $\mathbb{F}_p^{\times}$. Recently, Matthew Just and the second author investigated the problem of classifying pairs $\alpha, \beta \in \mathbb{Q}^{\times}\setminus\{\pm 1\}$ for which $\mathrm{ord}_p(\alpha) > \mathrm{ord}_p(\beta)$ holds for infinitely many primes $p$. They called such pairs order-dominant. We describe an easily-checkable sufficient condition for $\alpha,\beta$ to be order-dominant. Via the large ...

These are notes of a series of lectures on sieves, presented during the Special Activity in Analytic Number Theory, at the Max-Planck Institute for Mathematics in Bonn, during the period January--June 2002.