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Let $\mu$ be the Möbius function. Let $$\lambda_d = \begin{cases} \frac{\log D/d}{\log D} \mu(d)&\text{for $d\leq D$,}\\ 0 &\text{otherwise.}\end{cases}$$ (Selberg's weights also work.) Then it is well-known that, for $N\ggg D^2$, $$\sum_{n\leq N} \left(\sum_{d|n} \lambda_d\right)^2 = \frac{N}{\log D} + \text{lower-order terms}.$$

What is the order of $$S_1 = \sum_{n\leq N} \left|\sum_{d|n} \lambda_d\right|,$$ under the same assumptions? Of course we can give an upper bound $S_1\leq N/\sqrt{\log D} + \dots$ from the above by Cauchy-Schwarz, but can one do better? Is $S_1$ perhaps $O(N/\log D)$? (It certainly is if we take away the absolute value.)

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  • $\begingroup$ I doubt whether your choice for $\lambda_d$ is optimal to minimize $S_1$ as it is just a smooth version of Selberg's weight. $\endgroup$
    – TravorLZH
    Commented May 31, 2022 at 12:31
  • $\begingroup$ @TravorLZH Smooth is handie for some purposes - and this choice gives the same (optimal) main term as Selberg's weight. It's just in the lower-order terms that they differ. $\endgroup$ Commented May 31, 2022 at 12:39
  • $\begingroup$ You have $\lambda_d = f(\log d/\log D)\mu(d)$ with $f(x)=1-x$. If $f$ were rather more smooth then you could use the method of Proposition 4.2 in the Polymath 8b paper "Variants of the Selberg sieve..." to show $S_1 = O(N/\log D)$. But since $f$ only has a single derivative I'm not sure what to do. $\endgroup$
    – A of E
    Commented Jun 1, 2022 at 19:33
  • $\begingroup$ @A_of_E Wouldn't the method there work in this case? The Mellin transform $Mf(s)$ of $f$ will decay quadratically as $\Im s$ grows. Is that not enough? $\endgroup$ Commented Jun 2, 2022 at 8:44
  • $\begingroup$ @HAHelfgott With the Fourier technique of Polymath it seems inevitable that one loses a few powers of the frequency variable. So it seems like quadratic decay does not suffice for this argument. My rough calculation suggests one needs a bit more than cubic decay in the Fourier transform. $\endgroup$
    – A of E
    Commented Jun 2, 2022 at 22:00

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