Many Representations as Sums of Three Prime Cubes

Abstract

Let $F_k(n)$ be the number of unordered representations \[ n=p_1^k+p_2^k+\cdots +p_k^k \] by primes, with repetitions allowed. Erdős stated that ${\mathrm{limsup}}_{n\to \infty }{F}_3(n)=\infty$, but his proof appears not to have been published. A complete unconditional proof is given. The principal input is the classical Hecke equidistribution theorem for the CM Fermat cubic; the rest of the argument uses standard estimates for primes in arithmetic progressions and elementary counting. The argument used for \(k=3\) does not extend to the case \(k=4\). Nevertheless, by applying the Green--Tao--Ziegler theorem to the linear forms arising from an admissible binary quartic identity, \(\limsup_{n\to\infty}F_4(n)\ge2\) is shown.