254B, Notes 1: Equidistribution of polynomial sequences in tori

(Linear) Fourier analysis can be viewed as a tool to study an arbitrary function on (say) the integers , by looking at how such a function correlates with linear phases such as , where is the fundamental character, and is a frequency. These correlations control a number of expressions relating to , such as the expected behaviour of on arithmetic progressions of length three.

In this course we will be studying higher-order correlations, such as the correlation of with quadratic phases such as , as these will control the expected behaviour of on more complex patterns, such as arithmetic progressions of length four. In order to do this, we must first understand the behaviour of exponential sums such as

Such sums are closely related to the distribution of expressions such as in the unit circle , as varies from to . More generally, one is interested in the distribution of polynomials of one or more variables taking values in a torus ; for instance, one might be interested in the distribution of the quadruplet as both vary from to . Roughly speaking, once we understand these types of distributions, then the general machinery of quadratic Fourier analysis will then allow us to understand the distribution of the quadruplet for more general classes of functions ; this can lead for instance to an understanding of the distribution of arithmetic progressions of length in the primes, if is somehow related to the primes.

More generally, to find arithmetic progressions such as in a set , it would suffice to understand the equidistribution of the quadruplet in as and vary. This is the starting point for the fundamental connection between combinatorics (and more specifically, the task of finding patterns inside sets) and dynamics (and more specifically, the theory of equidistribution and recurrence in measure-preserving dynamical systems, which is a subfield of ergodic theory). This connection was explored in one of my previous classes; it will also be important in this course (particularly as a source of motivation), but the primary focus will be on finitary, and Fourier-based, methods.

The theory of equidistribution of polynomial orbits was developed in the linear case by Dirichlet and Kronecker, and in the polynomial case by Weyl. There are two regimes of interest; the (qualitative) asymptotic regime in which the scale parameter is sent to infinity, and the (quantitative) single-scale regime in which is kept fixed (but large). Traditionally, it is the asymptotic regime which is studied, which connects the subject to other asymptotic fields of mathematics, such as dynamical systems and ergodic theory. However, for many applications (such as the study of the primes), it is the single-scale regime which is of greater importance. The two regimes are not directly equivalent, but are closely related: the single-scale theory can be usually used to derive analogous results in the asymptotic regime, and conversely the arguments in the asymptotic regime can serve as a simplified model to show the way to proceed in the single-scale regime. The analogy between the two can be made tighter by introducing the (qualitative) ultralimit regime, which is formally equivalent to the single-scale regime (except for the fact that explicitly quantitative bounds are abandoned in the ultralimit), but resembles the asymptotic regime quite closely.

We will view the equidistribution theory of polynomial orbits as a special case of Ratner’s theorem, which we will study in more generality later in this course.

For the finitary portion of the course, we will be using asymptotic notation: , , or denotes the bound for some absolute constant , and if we need to depend on additional parameters then we will indicate this by subscripts, e.g. means that for some depending only on . In the ultralimit theory we will use an analogue of asymptotic notation, which we will review later in these notes.