Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-tj2md Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T23:47:34.889Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The average number of divisors of an irreducible quadratic polynomial

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 1999

JAMES McKEE
Affiliation:
Pembroke College, Oxford OX1 1DW

Abstract

For a non-zero integer n, let d(n) denote the number of positive divisors of n. Let a, b and c be integers with a>0, and set Δ=b2−4ac. If the quadratic polynomial ax2+bx+c is irreducible over the rational numbers Q (that is, if Δ is not the square of an integer), then one has

formula here

as X→∞, for some λ depending on a, b and c (see [7]). In this paper we discuss the way in which λ depends on a, b and c, giving a precise, compact expression in terms of class numbers. This extends previous work for the case a=1, Δ<0 (see [4]).

For the case a=1, b=0, a much better description of the error is given in [2], with the following expression for λ:

formula here

Here ρ is a multiplicative function, defined below, and (p/q) is the Legendre/Jacobi symbol.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
The Cambridge Philosophical Society 1999

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)