Minor arcs for Goldbach's problem

Abstract

The ternary Goldbach conjecture states that every odd number n>=7 is the sum of three primes. The estimation of sums of the form \sum_{p\leq x} e(\alpha p), \alpha = a/q + O(1/q^2), has been a central part of the main approach to the conjecture since (Vinogradov, 1937). Previous work required q or x to be too large to make a proof of the conjecture for all n feasible. The present paper gives new bounds on minor arcs and the tails of major arcs. This is part of the author's proof of the ternary Goldbach conjecture. The new bounds are due to several qualitative improvements. In particular, this paper presents a general method for reducing the cost of Vaughan's identity, as well as a way to exploit the tails of minor arcs in the context of the large sieve.