An Erd\H{o}s--Fuchs Theorem for Ordered Representation Functions

Abstract

Let $k\geq 2$ be a positive integer. We study concentration results for the ordered representation functions $r^{\leq}_k(A,n) = \# \big\{ (a_1 \leq \dots \leq a_k) \in A^k : a_1+\dots+a_k = n \big\}$ and $r^{<}_k(A,n) = \# \big\{ (a_1 < \dots < a_k) \in A^k : a_1+\dots+a_k = n \big\}$ for any infinite set of non-negative integers $A$. Our main theorem is an Erd\H{o}s--Fuchs-type result for both functions: for any $c > 0$ and $\star \in \{\leq,<\}$ we show that $$\sum_{j = 0}^{n} \Big( r^{\star}_k(A,j) - c \Big) = o\big(n^{1/4} \log^{-1/2}n \big)$$ is not possible. We also show that the mean squared error $$E^\star_{k,c}(A,n)=\frac{1}{n} \sum_{j = 0}^{n} \Big( r^{\star}_k(A,j) - c \Big)^2$$ satisfies $\limsup_{n \to \infty} E^\star_{k,c}(A,n)>0$. These results extend two theorems for the non-ordered representation function proved by Erd\H{o}s and Fuchs in the case of $k=2$ (J. of the London Math. Society 1956).