arXiv:2608.11382v1
Abstract
Let denote the number of prime factors of , counted with multiplicities. We study the set of weak- limits of the sequence in -compact dynamical systems , demonstrating that if is quasi-generic for an ergodic measure , then . This extends a result of Bergelson and Richter, who studied the problem in the setting of uniquely ergodic systems. We give a more precise description of the set in the case of the horocycle flow on non-compact quotients of . We show that for every non-periodic , in addition to Haar measure, there exists sequences such that where denotes the one parameter family of periodic measures in each of the inequivalent cusps. Depending on Diophantine properties of the non-periodic point , we show that contains a full two parameter family of such periodic measures, as well as the Dirac measure at each cusp. In particular, these results yield almost-everywhere divergence of pointwise averages along for the non-compact horocycle flow.
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Detailed mathematical audit
01Statements5 reported findingsCorrect
The ergodic-visible-measure theorem, the symbolic counterexample, the classification and realization results for horocycle -limits, the exclusion result for bounded geodesic orbits, and the pointwise-divergence corollary are correct. Several printed proofs require substantive repairs, recorded in Part 2, but the repairs can be verified without changing any central conclusion. The use of cusp Dirac masses also requires the explicitly intended compactified ambient space.
Every ergodic standard visible measure remains visible along
Page 2 · Theorem 1.1; pages 7–10 · proof · arXiv:2608.11382v1
The theorem remains valid for the stated -compact metric spaces, although the printed argument is not valid at that generality. A verified repair uses that a -compact metric space is separable, fixes a countable weak-convergence-determining family of bounded continuous functions, and applies the same Egorov and Gaussian-block construction to its first members. Quasi-genericity gives the required lower bound for the open good set directly by Portmanteau. To obtain tightness, at stage include continuous cutoffs that equal one on compact sets carrying almost all of and vanish outside shrinking neighborhoods of those sets. Each -empirical measure has finite support; the union of its high-mass support portions in neighborhoods of radius tending to zero has compact closure. The resulting diagonal sequence is tight and converges on the determining family, hence converges weakly to .
Full paper, version 1 ↗Ergodicity cannot be removed
Page 2 · Proposition 1.2; pages 10–11 · symbolic construction · arXiv:2608.11382v1
The three-symbol block construction is generic for : a partial terminal block has length , so the endpoint calculation extends to every averaging time. The Hardy–Ramanujan window around has length and meets at most two symbol blocks. Thus, outside a set of integers of density tending to zero, at least one of the three zero-coordinate cylinder functions has average zero. All three therefore cannot converge to , and the non-ergodic measure is not in .
Hardy–Ramanujan concentration theorem as used in the paper ↗Horocycle accumulation measures and the bounded-geodesic exclusion
Pages 2–3 · Theorems 1.3 and 1.6; Sections 5–6 · arXiv:2608.11382v1
The local Erdős estimate converts -averages into Gaussian-weighted horocycle windows. Quantitative horocycle equidistribution gives the dichotomy between total cusp escape and approximation by a periodic horocycle of period bounded above and below. The matrix factorization in Lemma 5.5 and the second-derivative estimate in Lemma 5.7 then turn the latter case into exactly Recurrence of the positive geodesic orbit and long-horocycle equidistribution give the asserted nontrivial family and Haar measure. If the full geodesic orbit is bounded, quantitative non-divergence rules out cusp mass and the Diophantine lower bound in Lemma 5.3 keeps the scaled shear parameter away from zero, ruling out a single periodic measure. The formula and constant bookkeeping in the lower-inclusion proof need the verified repairs listed in Part 2, but the repaired chain establishes the printed conclusions.
Streck, closed-horocycle approximation lemma ↗Residual realization and almost-everywhere pointwise divergence
Pages 3 and 25–29 · Theorem 1.7, Propositions 7.1–7.3, and proof of Corollary 1.5 · arXiv:2608.11382v1
After the repairs in Part 2, the Baire construction realizes every cusp mass and a dense parameter set of the Gaussian mixtures; continuity in the parameters supplies the full upper-bound family. For pointwise divergence, the recurrence compactum and the constant in Theorem 1.3 can be chosen uniformly off a null set. The parameters and then range over a fixed compact subset. A cusp truncation may be chosen so that each mixture assigns at least a constant multiple of to , while Haar measure assigns at most a constant multiple of there. A compactly supported continuous cutoff of therefore has different Haar and mixture integrals for every such , giving two distinct subsequential limits almost everywhere.
Sarnak, equidistribution of long periodic horocycles ↗The accumulation set must be taken in the cusp compactification
Pages 1–3 · definitions of and Theorems 1.3, 1.6–1.7; page 19 · start of Section 6.1 · arXiv:2608.11382v1
The general introduction defines using probability measures on , but Theorems 1.3 and 1.7 include the cusp masses , which live only on the -point compactification . Section 6.1 explicitly says that its limit is a measure on , so the intended correction is unique: in the horocycle results, define as the weak-* accumulation set in . This corrects the ambient-space notation and leaves every argument and conclusion unchanged.
02Proofs8 reported findingsContains incorrect or incomplete proofs
The main mechanisms are mathematically sound, but four printed proof segments are not valid as written: the general-space proof of Theorem 1.1 assumes local compactness that was not stated; the uniform constant in Proposition 6.3 is not obtained from the displayed estimate; the residual cusp construction uses an invalid bounded-distance inference and an unnecessarily over-strong auxiliary lemma; and the pointwise-divergence proof reverses a cusp truncation. Each central conclusion nevertheless has a verified repair. Several additional sign and exponent errors are uniquely determined typographical corrections.
The reduction silently assumes local compactness
Pages 7–9 · first reductions and Equation (11) · arXiv:2608.11382v1
For a merely -compact metric space, it is false that one can choose compact metric balls exhausting almost all mass, and an open set need not admit compactly supported continuous approximants from below. For example, with its usual metric is -compact, has no compact ball of positive radius, and every nonzero continuous function has noncompact support. Thus the assertions preceding (7) and (11) do not follow from the hypotheses. The repair described in Part 1 is verified: work with bounded continuous determining functions, use Portmanteau for the open good set, and enforce tightness through shrinking neighborhoods of compact high-mass sets and the finite supports of the empirical measures. No local compactness assumption is then needed.
The displayed bound does not produce a constant uniform in the target periodic orbit
Pages 22–24 · Proposition 6.3 and the proof of Equation (2) · arXiv:2608.11382v1
Theorem 1.3 requires one multiplicative constant for all cusps and all centers . Proposition 6.3 states , but its displayed application of Lemma 5.1 gives an error , where depends on the chosen periodic point . Taken literally, choosing from this inequality makes it depend on . In the coordinates used immediately above (22), however, lies in the fixed ball and the three widths defining are fixed positive constants. Lemma 5.1 therefore supplies a bound with a constant depending only on , not on ; the extra factor can be removed. Choosing from this uniform estimate verifies Proposition 6.3 with , and the final ratio of the two admissible scaled-shear bounds is then , as required.
The claimed bounded perturbation is not bounded when approaches one
Pages 25–26 · proof of Proposition 7.3 after the Baire construction · arXiv:2608.11382v1
The proof uses and concludes from that stays a uniformly bounded distance from the shrinking periodic orbit. This inference is false at the displayed endpoint: the diagonal factor in the standard triangular decomposition is unbounded as or tends to zero. Apply Proposition 7.3 with the function instead. It still satisfies , and its conclusion supplies a window of radius ; restricting to the required radius gives . The triangular factors are then uniformly bounded, so the entire required window escapes every compact set.
Sarnak's theorem does not justify the printed uniform period quantifier
Pages 25–27 · Lemma 7.4 and its use in Proposition 7.3 · arXiv:2608.11382v1
Lemma 7.4 is stated uniformly for every periodic point of period at least . The proof produces on the renormalized closed horocycle an interval of length greater than , while that orbit has period asymptotic to . Sarnak's equidistribution of the complete closed-orbit measure does not imply that this particular interval meets when is unbounded. The Baire proof needs only a chosen sequence with periods tending to zero. Choose it with for every and replace Lemma 7.4 by the corresponding fixed- statement. Then the interval of length covers the entire renormalized closed orbit for large ; Sarnak's theorem applies directly, and every density assertion used in Proposition 7.3 follows.
The final cusp-mass comparison uses the complement of the set that was defined
Pages 28–29 · final paragraph of the proof of Corollary 1.5 · arXiv:2608.11382v1
The paper defines but then asserts and identifies the mixture's -mass with the Gaussian integral over the small interval around . A growing metric ball has Haar mass tending to one; both assertions concern its cusp complement. Let be a smooth compact cusp truncation. Standard cusp coordinates give . For the Gaussian mass is uniformly because remains in a fixed compact interval, and for the periodic orbit lies beyond once is large. Hence the mixture has outside mass , strictly more than Haar. A continuous compactly supported cutoff equal to one on a slightly smaller truncation then separates the two measures uniformly, proving the corollary.
Several exponents and signs are transcription errors
Pages 23–24 · Proposition 6.3 and Equations (21)–(23) · arXiv:2608.11382v1
Four corrections are mechanically forced by the adjacent formulas. First, after applying Lemma 5.2, every displayed bound in the inclusion in and in the later range for must read . Second, the definition of must use , not , exactly as in the preceding inclusion. Third, Equation (23) requires , not a positive exponent. Fourth, the three Riemann-sum lines that switch to and then to must retain throughout. The preceding shearing formula and the final displayed limit already contain these corrected signs, so no estimate or conclusion changes.
The parameter conversion has two sign mismatches
Pages 25 and 28 · Proposition 7.2 and its proof · arXiv:2608.11382v1
Proposition 7.2 must display , with a minus sign, to match Theorem 1.7 and Lemma 5.9. In its proof, put , , and ; the paper instead omits the absolute value in and inserts one in the denominator of . The corrected definitions give the exact identity for both signs of . This identity uniquely determines the corrections and completes the already printed Baire argument.
Three harmless symbols in Sections 5–6 need correction
Pages 14, 16, and 21–22 · Lemmas 5.4, 5.7, and proof of Theorem 1.6 · arXiv:2608.11382v1
In Lemma 5.4, must be , as follows from the polynomial . In Lemma 5.7, the second-derivative bounds must use (or apply the estimate to when ). In the last paragraph of the proof of Theorem 1.6, the conclusion must be , not , because the shear may be negative. Each corrected form is already forced by the preceding line and leaves the argument unchanged.
03Novelty0 reported findingsNo non-novelty findings
No non-novelty findings.