What is the probability that a random integral quadratic form in $n$ variables has an integral zero?
Abstract
We show that the density of quadratic forms in variables over that are isotropic is a rational function of , where the rational function is independent of , and we determine this rational function explicitly. When real quadratic forms in variables are distributed according to the Gaussian Orthogonal Ensemble (GOE) of random matrix theory, we determine explicitly the probability that a random such real quadratic form is isotropic (i.e., indefinite). As a consequence, for each , we determine an exact expression for the probability that a random integral quadratic form in variables is isotropic (i.e., has a nontrivial zero over ), when these integral quadratic forms are chosen according to the GOE distribution. In particular, we find an exact expression for the probability that a random integral quaternary quadratic form has an integral zero; numerically, this probability is approximately .
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1502.05992,
title = {What is the probability that a random integral quadratic form in $n$ variables has an integral zero?},
author = {M. Bhargava and J. E. Cremona and T. A. Fisher and N. G. Jones and J. P. Keating},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1502.05992},
year = {2015}
}
Comments
17 pages. This article supercedes arXiv:1311.5543