Positivity of partial sums of a random multiplicative function and corresponding problems for the Legendre symbol
Abstract
Let be a random completely multiplicative function such that with probabilities independently at each prime. We study the conditional probability, given that for all , that all partial sums of up to are nonnegative. We prove that for this probability equals . We also study the probability that is negative. We prove that , which improves a bound given by Kerr and Klurman. Under a conjecture closely related to Hal\'asz's theorem, we prove that for some . Let be the Legendre symbol modulo . For a prime chosen uniformly at random from , we express the probability that all partial sums of are nonnegative in terms of the probability that partial sums of are nonnegative.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2510.25691,
title = {Positivity of partial sums of a random multiplicative function and corresponding problems for the Legendre symbol},
author = {Petr Kucheriaviy},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2510.25691},
year = {2025}
}
Comments
29 pages. The statement of Lemma 3.4(ii) was corrected, which led to a corresponding correction in the proof of Proposition 4. Some minor corrections were made to improve the presentation