Twisted $2k$th moments of primitive Dirichlet $L$-functions: beyond the diagonal

Abstract

We study the family of Dirichlet $L$-functions of all even primitive characters of conductor at most $Q$, where $Q$ is a parameter tending to $\infty$. For an arbitrary positive integer $k$, we approximate the twisted $2k$th moment of this family by using Dirichlet polynomial approximations of $L^k(s,\chi )$ of length $X$, with $Q<X<Q^2$. Assuming the Generalized Lindelöf Hypothesis, we prove an asymptotic formula for these approximations of the twisted moments. Our result agrees with the prediction of Conrey, Farmer, Keating, Rubinstein, and Snaith for this family of $L$-functions, and provides the first rigorous evidence beyond the diagonal terms for their conjectured asymptotic formula for the general $2k$th moment of this family.

99 pages