The triangular theorem of eight and representation by quadratic polynomials

We investigate here the representability of integers as sums of triangular numbers, where the $n$-th triangular number is given by $T_n = n(n + 1)/2$. In particular, we show that $f(x_1,x_2,..., x_k) = b_1 T_{x_1} +...+ b_k T_{x_k}$, for fixed positive integers $b_1, b_2,..., b_k$, represents every nonnegative integer if and only if it represents 1, 2, 4, 5, and 8. Moreover, if `cross-terms' are allowed in $f$, we show that no finite set of positive integers can play an analogous role, in turn showing that there is no overarching finiteness theorem which generalizes the statement from positive definite quadratic forms to totally positive quadratic polynomials

Two-dimensional lattices with few distances

We prove that of all two-dimensional lattices of covolume 1 the hexagonal lattice has asymptotically the fewest distances. An analogous result for dimensions 3 to 8 was proved in 1991 by Conway and Sloane. Moreover, we give a survey of some related literature, in particular progress on a conjecture from 1995 due to Schmutz Schaller.Comment: 21 pages, final version, accepted for publication in L'Enseignement Math\'ematiqu

Supersingular abelian surfaces and Eichler class number formula

Let $F$ be a totally real field with ring of integers $O_F$, and $D$ be a totally definite quaternion algebra over $F$. A well-known formula established by Eichler and then extended by K\"orner computes the class number of any $O_F$-order in $D$. In this paper we generalize the Eichler class number formula so that it works for arbitrary $\mathbb{Z}$-orders in $D$. The motivation is to count the isomorphism classes of supersingular abelian surfaces in a simple isogeny class over a prime finite field $\mathbb{F}_p$. We give explicit formulas for the number of these isomorphism classes for all primes $p$.Comment: 29 pages, 3 numerical tables, shortened revised version with same results, Sections 7-9 of v2 are remove

Principal forms X^2 + nY^2 representing many integers

In 1966, Shanks and Schmid investigated the asymptotic behavior of the number of positive integers less than or equal to x which are represented by the quadratic form X^2+nY^2. Based on some numerical computations, they observed that the constant occurring in the main term appears to be the largest for n=2. In this paper, we prove that in fact this constant is unbounded as n runs through positive integers with a fixed number of prime divisors.Comment: 10 pages, title has been changed, Sections 2 and 3 are new, to appear in Abh. Math. Sem. Univ. Hambur

On the cohomology of linear groups over imaginary quadratic fields

Let Gamma be the group GL_N (OO_D), where OO_D is the ring of integers in the imaginary quadratic field with discriminant D<0. In this paper we investigate the cohomology of Gamma for N=3,4 and for a selection of discriminants: D >= -24 when N=3, and D=-3,-4 when N=4. In particular we compute the integral cohomology of Gamma up to p-power torsion for small primes p. Our main tool is the polyhedral reduction theory for Gamma developed by Ash and Koecher. Our results extend work of Staffeldt, who treated the case n=3, D=-4. In a sequel to this paper, we will apply some of these results to the computations with the K-groups K_4 (OO_{D}), when D=-3,-4

Linear correlations amongst numbers represented by positive definite binary quadratic forms

Given a positive definite binary quadratic form f, let r(n) = |{(x,y): f(x,y)=n}| denote its representation function. In this paper we study linear correlations of these functions. For example, if r_1, ..., r_k are representation functions, we obtain an asymptotic for sum_{n,d} r_1(n) r_2(n+d) ... r_k(n+ (k-1)d).Comment: 60 pages. Small correction