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Partial sums of random multiplicative functions with supercritical divisor twists

Number Theory 2026-04-08 v1 Functional Analysis Probability

Abstract

Let ff be a Steinhaus random multiplicative function, and for αR\alpha\in \mathbb{R}, let dαd_\alpha denote the α\alpha-divisor function. For α(1,2)\alpha \in (1,2) we establish that E{1xnxdα(n)f(n)2q}(logx)2q(α1)(loglogx)3αq/2(1αq)+1 \mathbb{E}\bigg\{\Big|\frac{1}{\sqrt{x}}\sum_{n\leq x} d_\alpha(n)f(n)\Big|^{2q}\bigg\} \ll \frac{(\log x)^{2q(\alpha-1)}}{(\log\log x)^{3\alpha q/2}(1-\alpha q)+1} uniformly for q[0,1/α]q\in [0,1/\alpha] and all large xx. This matches predictions from the theory of supercritical Gaussian multiplicative chaos, and provides an analogue of a seminal result of Harper corresponding to the critical (α=1\alpha=1) case. Our approach is based on studying the measure of level sets of an Euler product associated with ff, and yields a short proof of Harper's upper bound at α=1\alpha=1 (implying Helson's conjecture at q=1/2q=1/2). As an additional application, we obtain a conjecturally sharp bound for the pseudomoments of the Riemann zeta function in a certain parameter range, showing that limT1TT2Tnxdα(n)n1/2+it2qdt(logx)2q(α1)(loglogx)3αq/2, \lim_{T\to\infty}\frac{1}{T}\int_T^{2T} \bigg|\sum_{n\leq x}\frac{d_\alpha(n)}{n^{1/2+it}}\bigg|^{2q} \mathrm{d}t \ll \frac{(\log x)^{2q(\alpha-1)}}{(\log\log x)^{3\alpha q/2}}, for α(1,2)\alpha\in (1,2) and small q>0q>0. This answers a question of Gerspach.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2604.05563,
  title  = {Partial sums of random multiplicative functions with supercritical divisor twists},
  author = {Jad Hamdan},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2604.05563},
  year   = {2026}
}

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23 pages