On the random Chowla conjecture

We consider the random functions $S_N(z):=\sum_{n=1}^N z(n) $, where $z(n)$ is the completely multiplicative random function generated by independent Steinhaus variables $z(p)$. It is shown that ${\Bbb E} |S_N|\gg \sqrt{N}(\log N)^{-0.05616}$ and that $({\Bbb E} |S_N|^q)^{1/q}\gg_{q} \sqrt{N}(\log N)^{-0.07672}$ for all $q>0$.

In this article we investigate different forms of multiplicative independence between the sequences $n$ and $\lfloor n \alpha \rfloor$ for irrational $\alpha$. Our main theorem shows that for a large class of arithmetic functions $a, b \colon \mathbb{N} \to \mathbb{C}$ the sequences $(a(n))_{n \in \mathbb{N}}$ and $(b ( \lfloor \alpha n \rfloor))_{n \in \mathbb{N}}$ are asymptotically uncorrelated. This new theorem is then applied to prove a $2$-dimensional version of the Erd...

Let $\alpha$ be a Steinhaus or a Rademacher random multiplicative function. For a wide class of multiplicative functions $f$ we show that the sum $\sum_{n \le x}\alpha(n) f(n)$, normalised to have mean square $1$, has a non-Gaussian limiting distribution. More precisely, we establish a generalised central limit theorem with random variance determined by the total mass of a random measure associated with $\alpha f$. Our result applies to $d_z$, the $z$-th divisor function, a...

We show that if $f$ is the random completely multiplicative function, the probability that $\sum_{n\le x}\frac{f(n)}{n}$ is positive for every $x$ is at least $1-10^{-45}$, while also strictly smaller than $1$. For large $x$, we prove an asymptotic upper bound of $O(\exp(-\exp( \frac{\log x}{C\log \log x })))$ on the exceptional probability that a particular truncation is negative, where $C$ is some positive constant.

Let $\lambda$ denote the Liouville function. A well known conjecture of Chowla asserts that for any distinct natural numbers $h_1,\dots,h_k$, one has $\sum_{1 \leq n \leq X} \lambda(n+h_1) \dotsm \lambda(n+h_k) = o(X)$ as $X \to \infty$. This conjecture remains unproven for any $h_1,\dots,h_k$ with $k \geq 2$. In this paper, using the recent results of the first two authors on mean values of multiplicative functions in short intervals, combined with an argument of Katai and B...

We study the asymptotic behaviour of higher order correlations $$ \mathbb{E}_{n \leq X/d} g_1(n+ah_1) \cdots g_k(n+ah_k)$$ as a function of the parameters $a$ and $d$, where $g_1,\dots,g_k$ are bounded multiplicative functions, $h_1,\dots,h_k$ are integer shifts, and $X$ is large. Our main structural result asserts, roughly speaking, that such correlations asymptotically vanish for almost all $X$ if $g_1 \cdots g_k$ does not (weakly) pretend to be a twisted Dirichlet characte...

We study sums of a random multiplicative function; this is an example, of number-theoretic interest, of sums of products of independent random variables (chaoses). Using martingale methods, we establish a normal approximation for the sum over those n \leq x with k distinct prime factors, provided that k = o(log log x) as x \rightarrow \infty. We estimate the fourth moments of these sums, and use a conditioning argument to show that if k is of the order of magnitude of log log...

Let $\lambda$ denote the Liouville function. The Chowla conjecture, in the two-point correlation case, asserts that $$ \sum_{n \leq x} \lambda(a_1 n + b_1) \lambda(a_2 n+b_2) = o(x) $$ as $x \to \infty$, for any fixed natural numbers $a_1,a_2,b_1,b_2$ with $a_1b_2-a_2b_1 \neq 0$. In this paper we establish the logarithmically averaged version $$ \sum_{x/\omega(x) < n \leq x} \frac{\lambda(a_1 n + b_1) \lambda(a_2 n+b_2)}{n} = o(\log \omega(x)) $$ of the Chowla conjecture as $...

We prove that the $k$-th positive integer moment of partial sums of Steinhaus random multiplicative functions over the interval $(x, x+H]$ matches the corresponding Gaussian moment, as long as $H\ll x/(\log x)^{2k^2+2+o(1)}$ and $H$ tends to infinity with $x$. We show that properly normalized partial sums of typical multiplicative functions arising from realizations of random multiplicative functions have Gaussian limiting distribution in short moving intervals $(x, x+H]$ wit...

Let $\alpha \colon \mathbb{N} \to S^1$ be the Steinhaus multiplicative function: a completely multiplicative function such that $(\alpha(p))_{p\text{ prime}}$ are i.i.d.~random variables uniformly distributed on $S^1$. Helson conjectured that $\mathbb{E}|\sum_{n\le x}\alpha(n)|=o(\sqrt{x})$ as $x \to \infty$, and this was solved in strong form by Harper. We give a short proof of the conjecture using a result of Saksman and Webb on a random model for the zeta function.