Arenas, A.; Bayer, P. Arithmetic behaviour of the sums of three squares. (English) Zbl 0623.10035 J. Number Theory 27, 273-284 (1987). The purpose of this paper is to calculate, for a positive integer \(n\) which has a representation as a sum of three integral squares, the maximum number of summands which can be prime to \(n\). The theorem is that this number is 3 or 2 according to whether \(n\) is coprime to 10, and provided \(n\) is large enough (depending on the radical of \(n\)). The proof uses the evaluation of the number of representations of \(n\) by ternary quadratic forms of special types. This in turn depends on classical results of C. L. Siegel [Ann. Math. (2) 36, 527–606 (1935; Zbl 0012.19703)]. Other elements in the proof are Shimura’s correspondence and the theory of theta-functions given by R. Schulze-Pillot [Invent. Math. 75, 283–299 (1984; Zbl 0533.10021)]. As a consequence, applying directly a theorem of N. Vila [Arch. Math. 44, 424–437 (1985; Zbl 0562.12011)], the authors conclude that if \(n\) is congruent to 3 modulo 8 and sufficiently large (as above) then every central extension of the alternating group \(A_n\) can be realized as a Galois group over \(\mathbb Q\). Reviewer: James L. Hafner (San José) Cited in 2 ReviewsCited in 2 Documents MSC: 11P05 Waring’s problem and variants 11R32 Galois theory 11E12 Quadratic forms over global rings and fields 11F11 Holomorphic modular forms of integral weight 11E45 Analytic theory (Epstein zeta functions; relations with automorphic forms and functions) Keywords:sum of three integral squares; maximum number of summands; number of representations; ternary quadratic forms; Shimura’s correspondence; theta-functions; central extension; alternating group; Galois group Citations:Zbl 0012.19703; Zbl 0533.10021; Zbl 0562.12011 PDFBibTeX XMLCite \textit{A. Arenas} and \textit{P. Bayer}, J. Number Theory 27, 273--284 (1987; Zbl 0623.10035) Full Text: DOI References: [1] A. ArenasActa Arith.51; A. ArenasActa Arith.51 [2] P. Bayer and E. Nart; P. Bayer and E. Nart · Zbl 0702.11022 [3] Earnest, A. J.; Hsia, J. S., Spinor norms of local integral rotations II, Pacific J. Math., 61, 71-86 (1975) · Zbl 0334.10012 [4] Loo Keng, H., (Introduction to Number Theory (1982), springer: springer Berlin) · Zbl 0483.10001 [5] Schulze-Pillot, R., Theta-reihen positiv definiter quadratischer Formen, Invent. Math., 75, 283-299 (1984) · Zbl 0533.10021 [6] Shimura, G., On modular forms of half integral weight, Ann. of Math., 97, 440-481 (1973) · Zbl 0266.10022 [7] Siegel, C. L., Über die analytische Theorie der quadratischen Formen, (Gesammelte Abhand, Band 1 (1966), Springer: Springer Berlin) · JFM 61.0140.01 [8] Vila, N., On central extensions of \(A_n\) as a Galois group over Q, Arch. Math., 44, 424-437 (1985) · Zbl 0562.12011 [9] \( \textsc{N. Vila}S_n J. Algebra \); \( \textsc{N. Vila}S_n J. Algebra \) · Zbl 0662.12011 This reference list is based on information provided by the publisher or from digital mathematics libraries. Its items are heuristically matched to zbMATH identifiers and may contain data conversion errors. In some cases that data have been complemented/enhanced by data from zbMATH Open. This attempts to reflect the references listed in the original paper as accurately as possible without claiming completeness or a perfect matching.