Spectrum of multiplicative functions over powerful numbers

Abstract

Roughly speaking, the spectrum of multiplicative functions is the set of all possible mean values. In this paper, we are interested in the spectra of multiplicative functions supported over powerful numbers. We prove that its real logarithmic spectrum takes values from $- \sqrt{2} / (4 + \sqrt{2}) = -0.26160...$ to $1$ while it is known that the logarithmic spectrum of real multiplicative functions over all natural numbers takes values from $0$ to $1$. In the course of this study, we correct a proof of Granville and Soundararajan concerning contribution of small primes in the study of mean value of multiplicative functions.