24
$\begingroup$

Does the following integration method hold for regular enough functions $F:\mathbb{R}\to\mathbb{R}$?

\begin{align} &\zeta(2)\sum_{\frac{a}{b}\in\mathbb{Q}_n} \frac{F(\log \frac{a}{b})}{\sqrt{abn}}\xrightarrow[n\to \infty] {} \int F(x) \, \textrm{d} x \qquad \\ \text{where } \quad &\mathbb{Q}_n = \{\tfrac{a}{b} \in \mathbb{Q}^+:\gcd(a,b)=1, ab\leq n\}. \end{align}

$\endgroup$
8
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ Is Riemann integrable with compact support sufficient for your purposes? $\endgroup$
    – fedja
    Commented Aug 27 at 2:48
  • $\begingroup$ Yes, I have introduced $F$ as a test function here, to formulate the question about the underlying empirical distribution, which is seemingly asymptotically uniform and equal to 1. I wonder how close this measure is to the Lebesgue measure. $\endgroup$
    – Alexandre
    Commented Aug 27 at 8:19
  • 2
    $\begingroup$ It is less or more equivalent to points with coprime coordinates being uniformly distributed on the plane with density $1/\zeta(2)$ (that is well known), thus, for smooth enough functions the answer is positive. For example, this holds for the class suggested by fedja (which looks reasonable for me and usual in such results). $\endgroup$ Commented Aug 27 at 10:09
  • $\begingroup$ It is probably related to this uniformity in a way or another, but the detail in not clear to me. $\zeta(2)$ can be factored out of a more brute expression $\sum_{k,l=0}^\infty \frac{F(\log \frac{k}{l})}{kl}$ (which does not converge). The fact that we have to trim the rationals with $ab>n$ make the enumeration of rationals different from (but included in) the union of the Farey sequence and the set of inverses, up to order $n^2$. $\endgroup$
    – Alexandre
    Commented Aug 27 at 13:24
  • $\begingroup$ @FedorPetrov : "points with coprime coordinates being uniformly distributed" Can you give a reference to this fact? $\endgroup$ Commented Aug 27 at 13:27

1 Answer 1

23
$\begingroup$

Call a function $F$ nice, if $$\DeclareMathOperator{\Dm}{d\!} \begin{align} &\zeta(2)\sum_{\frac{a}{b}\in\mathbb{Q}_n} \frac{F(\log \frac{a}{b})}{\sqrt{abn}}\xrightarrow[n\to \infty]{}\int F(x)\Dm x \qquad \label{1}\tag{1}\\ \textrm{where } \quad &\mathbb{Q}_n = \{\tfrac{a}{b}\in \mathbb{Q}^+,\textrm{ gcd}(a,b)=1, ab\leq n\} \quad . \end{align} $$ Obviously, nice functions form an $\mathbb{R}$-linear space. Also, assume that for some function $F$ for every $\varepsilon>0$ there exist nice functions $F_1,F_2$ such that $F_1\leqslant F\leqslant F_2$ and $\int (F_2-F_1)<\varepsilon$. Then $F$ is nice itself. Indeed, $$ \begin{split} \limsup_{n\to \infty} \zeta(2)\sum_{\frac{a}{b}\in\mathbb{Q}_n} \frac{F(\log \frac{a}{b})}{\sqrt{abn}} & \leqslant \limsup_{n\to \infty} \zeta(2)\sum_{\frac{a}{b}\in\mathbb{Q}_n} \frac{F_2(\log \frac{a}{b})}{\sqrt{abn}}\\ &=\int F_2\Dm x \leqslant \varepsilon+\int F_1 \Dm x\\ &\leqslant \varepsilon+\int F\Dm x, \end{split} $$ and, since $\varepsilon>0$ is arbitrary, the limsup of LHS of \eqref{1} does not exceed $\int F$. Analogously, liminf is not less than $\int F$. Therefore the liminf and limsup are both equal to $\int F$, thus $F$ is nice.

If we prove that for every real $p<q$ the characteristic function of the segment $[p,q]$ is nice, by above observation automatically we get that every properly Riemann integrable function is nice.

So, fix $p<q$ and consider $F=\chi_{[p,q]}$. Then \eqref{1} reads as $$\zeta(2)\sum_{e^p\leqslant a/b\leqslant e^q,\frac{a}{b}\in\mathbb{Q}_n} \frac{1}{\sqrt{ab}}\sim (q-p)\sqrt{n}.\label{2}\tag{2}$$ Fix positive but small constant $c$. Partition the sum in \eqref{2} by two parts: the sum $S_c$ corresponds to those points $(a,b)$ for which $\min(a,b)\geqslant c\sqrt{n}$, the sum $R_c$ ($R$ for remainder) to those points $(a,b)$ for which $\min(a,b)< c\sqrt{n}$. Both sums are over regions $\sqrt{n}\cdot \Omega_s,\sqrt{n}\cdot \Omega_r$ respectively which are homothetic images of fixed regions $\Omega_s$, $\Omega_r$.

By the uniform distribution of coprime points, we get $$S_c\sim \sqrt{n}\int_{\Omega_c}\frac{\Dm x\Dm y}{\sqrt{xy}}$$ ($\Omega_c$ is away of all singularities of the integrand, so there are no problems). For $R_c$, we may bound the sum over coprime points by the sum of all integer points with positive coordinates, which may be bounded from above by the corresponding integral. Since $\int_{x,y>0, xy<1, e^p<x/y<e^q}\frac{\Dm x\Dm y}{\sqrt{xy}}$ converges, the bound we get for $R_c$ is something small (when $c$ is small) times $\sqrt{n}$, and the integral over $\Omega_c$ is close (again if $c$ is small) to the integral $$\int_{x,y>0,e^p<x/y<e^q,xy<1}\frac{\Dm x\Dm y}{\sqrt{xy}}=q-p.$$

$\endgroup$
12
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ For those who are wondering how to do the last integral, substitute $x = e^t$, $y = e^u$, then the integrand is $e^{(t+u)/2}$ and the bounds are $p < t-u < q$, $t+u < 0$. Then rotate coordinates: $v = (t+u)/2$, $w= (t-u)/2$. $\endgroup$ Commented Aug 27 at 16:09
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @DavidESpeyer change of variables $x=\tau^2$, $y=\xi^2$ also works smoothly $\endgroup$ Commented Aug 27 at 16:12
  • $\begingroup$ Nice explanation! I am trying to understand to point of splitting the sum as you propose. Can't we simply skip this step? The final integral explains well the role of the condition $ab<n$. Also, this holds assuming that the coprime points are indeed uniformly distributed in the plane. However, the reference I have found (Hardy & Wright, section 18.5) only states the average density in a square $\max(a,b)\leq n$. A more precise reference would complete nicely your argument. $\endgroup$
    – Alexandre
    Commented Aug 27 at 18:38
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ @EmilJeřábek for fixed $b\leqslant \kappa n$ the number of $a\leqslant n$ coprime to $b$ is $n\cdot \frac{\varphi(b)}b+o(n)$, then sum up over $b$. See, for example, the reference here mathoverflow.net/a/22959/4312 $\endgroup$ Commented Aug 28 at 9:16
  • 1
    $\begingroup$ As a consequence of your argument, we can also notice that any weight of the form $2(1-\gamma)\zeta(2)(ab)^{-\gamma}n^{\gamma-1}$ should work just as fine. However, I observe that the convergence is faster for $\gamma=\frac{1}{2}$. Any heuristic for that? $\endgroup$
    – Alexandre
    Commented Aug 30 at 11:58

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .