On the Poisson Limit Theorems of Sinai and Major

Let f(ϕ) be a positive continuous function on 0 ≤ϕ≤Θ, where Θ≤ 2 π, and let ξ be the number of two-dimensional lattice points in the domain Π _R (f) between the curves r=(R+c ₁/R)f(ϕ) and r=(R+c ₂/R)f(ϕ), where c ₁<c ₂ are fixed. Randomizing the function f according to a probability law P, and the parameter R according to the uniform distribution μ _L on the interval a ₁ L,a ₂ L], Sinai showed that the distribution of ξ under P×μ _L converges to a mixture of the Poisson distributions as L→∞. Later Major showed that for P-almost all f, the distribution of ξ under μ _L converges to a Poisson distribution as L→∞. In this note, we shall give shorter and more transparent proofs to these interesting theorems, at the same time extending the class of P and strengthening the statement of Sinai. Received: 15 June 1999 / Accepted: 11 February 2000