English

Helson's conjecture for smooth numbers

Number Theory 2026-02-09 v3 Classical Analysis and ODEs Complex Variables Functional Analysis 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 prove that for ff a Steinhaus random multiplicative function, the partial sums over yy-smooth numbers always enjoy better than squareroot cancellation, in the sense that E1nxP(n)yf(n)=o(Ψ(x,y)1/2), \mathbb{E} \Big|\sum_{\substack{1\leq n \leq x\\ P(n) \leq y}} f(n) \Big| = o\left( \Psi(x,y)^{1/2} \right), uniformly on the entire range 2yx 2 \leq y \leq x. The bounds are quantitative and give a large saving when yy isn't too close to xx.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2511.03430,
  title  = {Helson's conjecture for smooth numbers},
  author = {Seth Hardy and Max Wenqiang Xu},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2511.03430},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

35 pages, including an 11-page introduction. This is a significant update which simplifies the proof of Theorem 1.2 (previously Theorem 1.3) and covers the whole range of smoothness parameter

R2 v1 2026-07-01T07:22:47.768Z