Thread: Sums of three squares View Single Post
2009-11-06, 17:48   #5
flouran

Dec 2008

72×17 Posts

Quote:
 Originally Posted by CRGreathouse Is there a good upper bound on the number of representations? Even a weak one like r_3(n) < n would be nice.
This should be a common application of sieve theory. Have you tried Halberstam and Richert's text? If that doesn't work, then I would take Bob's advice on contacting Vaughan (although he may be too busy to respond).

I should note that the methods used to achieve an upper bound on the number of representations as the sum of three squares of primes can be modified without much difficulty to provide a corresponding estimate (of the same quality, at worst) for the sum of three squares. The reason for this is that the situation becomes harder if we restrict some variables to primes. Thus, I am sure that the problem of the sum of three squares of primes (or a variant of this problem, at best) is treated in the H-R text.

Last fiddled with by flouran on 2009-11-06 at 17:49