An induction principle for the Bombieri-Vinogradov theorem over $\mathbb{F}_q[t]$ and a variant of the Titchmarsh divisor problem

Abstract

Let $\mathbb{F}_q[t]$ be the polynomial ring over the finite field $\mathbb{F}_{q}$. For arithmetic functions $ψ_{1}, ψ_{2}: \mathbb{F}_{q}[t]\rightarrow\mathbb{C}$, we establish that if a Bombieri-Vinogradov type equidistribution result holds for $ψ_{1}$ and $ψ_{2}$, then it also holds for their Dirichlet convolution $ψ_{1} \ast ψ_{2}$. As an application of this, we resolve a version of the Titchmarsh divisor problem in $\mathbb{F}_{q}[t]$. More precisely, we obtain an asymptotic for the average behaviour of the divisor function over shifted products of two primes in $\mathbb{F}_q[t]$.