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Character sums over smooth numbers

Number Theory 2026-07-01 v1 Probability

Abstract

Let Ψ(x,y)\Psi (x,y) denote the count of yy-smooth numbers below xx and P(n)P(n) denote the largest prime factor of nn. We show that 1φ(q)χmodqnxP(n)yχ(n)=o(Ψ(x,y)), \frac{1}{\varphi(q)} \sum_{\chi \bmod q} \Bigl| \sum_{\substack{n \leq x \\ P(n) \leq y}} \chi(n) \Bigr| = o \Bigl( \sqrt{\Psi(x,y)} \Bigr), whenever (logx)6yx132loglogx(\log x)^6 \leq y \leq x^{\frac{1}{32 \log \log x}} and qx1+εq \geq x^{1 + \varepsilon} for some small quantifiable ε>0\varepsilon > 0. The saving is substantial when ε\varepsilon is fixed away from zero, and we prove similar results for continuous characters and completely multiplicative twists of these sums.

Cite

@article{arxiv.2607.00592,
  title  = {Character sums over smooth numbers},
  author = {Seth Hardy and Max Wenqiang Xu},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2607.00592},
  year   = {2026}
}

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16 pages