On the difference between an integer and its m-th power mod n

Abstract

For any real constants λ ₁, λ ₂ ∈ (0, 1], let $n \geqslant \max \{ [\tfrac{1} {{\lambda _1 }}],[\tfrac{1} {{\lambda _2 }}]\}$, m ⩾ 2 be integers. Suppose integers a ∈ [1, λ ₁ n] and b ∈ [1, λ ₂ n] satisfy the congruence b ≡ a ^m (mod n). The main purpose of this paper is to study the mean value of (a − b)^2k for any fixed positive integer k and obtain some sharp asymptotic formulae.