Smooth-values conjecture for irreducible polynomials

Let PZ[x]P\in{\mathbb Z}[x] be an irreducible polynomial of degree dd, and let ΨP(x,y)\Psi_P(x,y) be the number of integers in the set {P(n):1n<x}\{P(n):1\leq n<x\} whose prime factors are all at most yy. Let ρ\rho denote the Dickman function, defined by ρ(u)=1\rho(u)=1 for 0u10\leq u\leq1 and ρ(u)=ρ(u1)/u\rho'(u)=-\rho(u-1)/u for u>1u>1. Smooth-values conjecture. Then

ΨP(x,y)ρ(du)x,(x=yu).\Psi_P(x,y)\sim\rho(du)x,\qquad (x=y^u).

This predicts that irreducible polynomial sequences have the same expected density of smooth values as the integers, after the degree-dependent rescaling. The source says that this is a special case of a more general conjecture, that it was proved under a quantitative version of Schinzel's hypothesis HH only in a limited range, and that unconditionally it was known only for linear polynomials; it also reports numerical evidence supporting it.

Sources & referencesView supporting material

Primary source

Johan Andersson, “On questions of Cassels and Drungilas-Dubickas”, arXiv:1606.02524 (2016).

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