The distribution of spacings between quadratic residues

We consider finite Bernoulli convolutions with a parameter $1/2 < r < 1$ supported on a discrete point set, generically of size $2^N$. These sequences are uniformly distributed with respect to the infinite Bernoulli convolution measure $\nu_r$, as $N$ tends to infinity. Numerical evidence suggests that for a generic $r$, the distribution of spacings between appropriately rescaled points is Poissonian. We obtain some partial results in this direction; for instance, we show tha...

We show that sequences of the form $\alpha n^{\theta} \pmod{1}$ with $\alpha > 0$ and $0 < \theta < \tfrac{43}{117} = \tfrac{1}{3} + 0.0341 \ldots$ have Poissonian pair correlation. This improves upon the previous result by Lutsko, Sourmelidis, and Technau, where this was established for $\alpha > 0$ and $0 < \theta < \tfrac{14}{41} = \tfrac{1}{3} + 0.0081 \ldots$. We reduce the problem of establishing Poissonian pair correlation to a counting problem using a form of amplif...

While the sequence of primes is very well distributed in the reduced residue classes (mod $q$), the distribution of pairs of consecutive primes among the permissible $\phi(q)^2$ pairs of reduced residue classes (mod $q$) is surprisingly erratic. This paper proposes a conjectural explanation for this phenomenon, based on the Hardy-Littlewood conjectures. The conjectures are then compared to numerical data, and the observed fit is very good.

We cosider the number of r-tuples of squarefree numbers in a short interval. We prove that it cannot be much bigger than the expected value and we also estabish an asymptotic formula if the interval is not very short.

In this paper we extend the well-known investigations of Montgomery and Goldston & Montgomery, concerning the pair-correlation function and its relations with the distribution of primes in short intervals, to a more general version of the pair-correlation function.

We study the distribution of spacings between the fractional parts of $n^d\alpha$. For $\alpha$ of high enough Diophantine type we prove a necessary and sufficient condition for $n^d\alpha\mod 1, 1\leq n\leq N,$ to be Poissonian as $N\to \infty$ along a suitable subsequence.

Consider the number of integers in a short interval that can be represented as a sum of two squares. What is an estimate for the variance of these counts over random short intervals? We resolve a function field variant of this problem in the large $q$ limit, finding a connection to the $z$-measures first investigated in the context of harmonic analysis on the infinite symmetric group. A similar connection to $z$-measures is established for sums over short intervals of the div...

We prove that the primes below $x$ are, on average, equidistributed in arithmetic progressions to smooth moduli of size up to $x^{1/2+1/40-\epsilon}$. The exponent of distribution $\tfrac{1}{2} + \tfrac{1}{40}$ improves on a result of Polymath, who had previously obtained the exponent $\tfrac{1}{2} + \tfrac{7}{300}$. As a consequence, we improve results on intervals of bounded length which contain many primes, showing that $\liminf_{n \rightarrow \infty} (p_{n+m}-p_n) = O(\ex...

We estimate the deviation of the number of solutions of the congruence $$ m^2-n^2 \equiv c \pmod q, \qquad 1 \le m \le M, \ 1\le n \le N, $$ from its expected value on average over $c=1, ..., q$. This estimate is motivated by the recently established by D. R. Heath-Brown connection between the distibution of solution to this congruence and the pair correlation problem for the fractional parts of the quadratic function $\alpha k^2$, $k=1,2,...$ with a real $\alpha$.

Given a positive definite binary quadratic form f, let r(n) = |{(x,y): f(x,y)=n}| denote its representation function. In this paper we study linear correlations of these functions. For example, if r_1, ..., r_k are representation functions, we obtain an asymptotic for sum_{n,d} r_1(n) r_2(n+d) ... r_k(n+ (k-1)d).