English

Effective Ratner theorem for ASL(2,R) and gaps in \sqrt{n} modulo 1

Dynamical Systems 2016-02-29 v4 Number Theory

Abstract

Let G=ASL(2,R) be the affine special linear group of the plane, and set Gamma=ASL(2,Z). Building on recent work of Str\"ombergsson we prove a rate of equidistribution for the orbits of a certain 1-dimensional unipotent flow of Gamma\G, which projects to a closed horocycle in the unit tangent bundle to the modular surface. We use this to answer a question of Elkies and McMullen by making effective the convergence of the gap distribution of \sqrt{n} modulo 1.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.1311.6387,
  title  = {Effective Ratner theorem for ASL(2,R) and gaps in \sqrt{n} modulo 1},
  author = {Tim Browning and Ilya Vinogradov},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1311.6387},
  year   = {2016}
}

Comments

24 pages; further extensive rewriting of section 5