Square-full polynomials in short intervals and in arithmetic progressions

We study the variance of sums of the indicator function of square-full polynomials in both arithmetic progressions and short intervals. Our work is in the context of the ring $F_{q}[T]$ of polynomials over a finite field $F_{q}$ of $q$ elements, in the limit $q\rightarrow\infty$. We use a recent equidistribution result due to N. Katz to express these variances in terms of triple matrix integrals over the unitary group, and evaluate them

On vanishing sums of m \,m\,th roots of unity in finite fields

In an earlier work, the authors have determined all possible weights $n$ for which there exists a vanishing sum $\zeta_1+\cdots +\zeta_n=0$ of $m$th roots of unity $\zeta_i$ in characteristic 0. In this paper, the same problem is studied in finite fields of characteristic $p$. For given $m$ and $p$, results are obtained on integers $n_0$ such that all integers $n\geq n_0$ are in the ``weight set'' $W_p(m)$. The main result $(1.3)$ in this paper guarantees, under suitable conditions, the existence of solutions of $x_1^d+\cdots+x_n^d=0$ with all coordinates not equal to zero over a finite field