English

Representation functions of bases for binary linear forms

Number Theory 2021-01-06 v2 Combinatorics

Abstract

Let F(x_1,...,x_m) = u_1 x_1 + ... + u_m x_m be a linear form with nonzero, relatively prime integer coefficients u_1,..., u_m. For any set A of integers, let F(A) = {F(a_1,...,a_m) : a_i in A for i=1,...,m}. The representation function associated with the form F is R_{A,F}(n) = card {(a_1,...,a_m) in A^m: F(a_1,..., a_m) = n}. The set A is a basis with respect to F for almost all integers the set Z\F(A) has asymptotic density zero. Equivalently, the representation function of an asymptotic basis is a function f:Z -> N_0 U {\infty} such that f^{-1}(0) has density zero. Given such a function, the inverse problem for bases is to construct a set A whose representation function is f. In this paper the inverse problem is solved for binary linear forms.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.0709.0717,
  title  = {Representation functions of bases for binary linear forms},
  author = {Melvyn B. Nathanson},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0709.0717},
  year   = {2021}
}

Comments

Improved version with some typos corrected; 8 pages

R2 v1 2026-06-21T09:14:18.839Z