Asymptotic formulas for sums of elements from a multiplicative group

Abstract

Let $K$ be a number field, $k\geq 2$ an integer, $(K^*)^k$ the $k$-fold direct product of $K^*$ with coordinatewise multiplication, and $Γ$ a finitely generated subgroup of rank $r$ of $(K^*)^k$. Further, let $H(α)$ denote the absolute exponential height of an algebraic number $α$. Fix non-zero elements $a_1,\ldots , a_k\in K$. We give asymptotic formulas for the number of $\mathbf{x}=(x_1,\ldots , x_k)\inΓ$ with $H(a_1x_1+\cdots +a_kx_k)\leq X$ as $X\to\infty$ such that no non-empty subsum of $a_1x_1+\cdots +a_kx_k$ vanishes. By the same method of proof, we obtain an asymptotic formula as $X\to\infty$ for the number of non-negative integers $n$ with $H(u_n)\leq X$, where $\{ u_n\}$ is a linear recurrence sequence.