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For $n \geq 1$, let $S(n)$ denote the set of all integers at most $n$, which can be written as a sum of two perfect squares, and let $s(n) = |S(n)|$.

How fast does $s(n)$ grow as $n \to \infty$?

It is easy to see that $\sqrt{n} \leq s(n)$ for all $n \geq 1$. (This follows from the fact that all perfect squares $\leq n$ are in $S(n)$, together with the fact that for $n \geq 2$, we have $2 \in S(n)$.)

Also, we know that $\lim_{n \to \infty} \frac{s(n)}{n} = 0$. This follows from the fact that the set of all integers which are the sum of two perfect squares $S = \cup_{n=1}^\infty S(n)$ has 0 upper density; in other words, the probability that a "random" positive integer is a sum of two squares is 0. Going back to the first sentence of this paragraph, we have that $s(n)$ grows slower than any linear function.

I presume that to answer the above question, we probably want to use the following well-known characterization due, I think, to Euler (see page 5) of the set of all integers which are the sum of two squares.

Theorem: Let $n \geq 1$. Then $n \in S(n)$ (i.e. $n$ can be written as a sum of two squares) iff for all primes $p$, if $p \equiv 3 \mod 4$, then the exponent of $p$ in the prime factorization of $n$ is even.

Community
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Andrew Kelley
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2 Answers2

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See William J. LeVeque, Topics in Number Theory, available both volumes in one

it is $$ \frac{C \; n}{\sqrt {\log n} \; \; } $$ The constant $C$ is known, it is a certain infinite product.

Using the natural logarithm,

$$ C \approx 0.7642 $$

Will Jagy
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If we determine $s(n)$ exactly for $n \leq 12$ or so, we can plug in the sequence $s(1), s(2), s(3), \ldots s(12)$ into OEIS. Indeed, the numbers $\leq 12$ that are a sum of two squares are

$$1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10.$$

So we have the following table of values of $s(n)$: \begin{array}{|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|c|} \hline s(1) & s(2) & s(3) & s(4)& s(5) & s(6) & s(7) & s(8) & s(9) & s(10) & s(11) & s(12) \\ \hline 1 & 2& 2 & 3 & 4 & 4 & 4 & 5 & 6 & 7 & 7 & 7 \\ \hline \end{array}

So plugging in 1,2,2,3,4,4,4,5,6,7,7,7 into OEIS, we find the sequence $\{s(n)\}_1^\infty$ there. Clicking the linked article by Daniel Shanks gives this article, which recalls the following asymptotic formula proved by Landau (which Will Jagy gave):

$$s(x) \sim \frac{bx}{\sqrt{\log x}},$$

where $\log x$ is the natural logarithm and

$$b = (2 \prod_q (1 - q^{-2}))^{-1/2},$$ where the product is over all primes $q$ of the form $4m +3$.

In the above linked article (the top of page 76), Daniel Shanks goes on to state an even better approximation of $s(n)$ (which uses "big O" notation):

$$s(x) = \frac{bx}{\sqrt{\log x}}\left[1 + \frac{c}{\log x} + O\left(\frac{1}{\log^2 x} \right) \right], $$

where $b \approx .7642$ and $c \approx .5819$

Andrew Kelley
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