English

Central limit theorems for random multiplicative functions

Number Theory 2024-01-02 v2

Abstract

A Steinhaus random multiplicative function ff is a completely multiplicative function obtained by setting its values on primes f(p)f(p) to be independent random variables distributed uniformly on the unit circle. Recent work of Harper shows that nNf(n)\sum_{n\le N} f(n) exhibits ``more than square-root cancellation," and in particular 1NnNf(n)\frac 1{\sqrt{N}} \sum_{n\le N} f(n) does not have a (complex) Gaussian distribution. This paper studies nAf(n)\sum_{n\in {\mathcal A}} f(n), where A{\mathcal A} is a subset of the integers in [1,N][1,N], and produces several new examples of sets A{\mathcal A} where a central limit theorem can be established. We also consider more general sums such as nNf(n)e2πinθ\sum_{n\le N} f(n) e^{2\pi i n\theta}, where we show that a central limit theorem holds for any irrational θ\theta that does not have extremely good Diophantine approximations.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2212.06098,
  title  = {Central limit theorems for random multiplicative functions},
  author = {Kannan Soundararajan and Max Wenqiang Xu},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2212.06098},
  year   = {2024}
}

Comments

28 pages, accepted version; to Peter Sarnak on the occasion of his seventieth birthday

R2 v1 2026-06-28T07:31:32.532Z