On Representations of Integers in Thin Subgroups of {{\rm SL}_2({\mathbb {Z}})}

Let ${\Gamma < {\rm SL}(2, {\mathbb Z})}Let G < SL(2, \mathbb Z){\Gamma < {\rm SL}(2, {\mathbb Z})} be a free, finitely generated Fuchsian group of the second kind with no parabolics, and fix two primitive vectors v₀, w₀ ? \mathbb Z²  \  {0}{v_{0}, w_{0} \in \mathbb {Z}^{2} \, {\backslash} \, \{0\}}. We consider the set S{\mathcal {S}} of all integers occurring in áv₀g, w₀?{\langle v_{0}\gamma, w_{0}\rangle}, for g ? G{\gamma \in \Gamma} and the usual inner product on \mathbb R²{\mathbb {R}^2}. Assume that the critical exponent δ of Γ exceeds 0.99995, so that Γ is thin but not too thin. Using a variant of the circle method, new bilinear forms estimates and Gamburd’s 5/6-th spectral gap in infinite-volume, we show that S{\mathcal {S}} contains almost all of its admissible primes, that is, those not excluded by local (congruence) obstructions. Moreover, we show that the exceptional set \mathfrak E(N){\mathfrak {E}(N)} of integers |n| < N which are locally admissible (n ? S   (mod  q)   for all   q 3 1){(n \in \mathcal {S} \, \, ({\rm mod} \, q) \, \, {\rm for\,all} \,\, q \geq 1)} but fail to be globally represented, n ? S{n \notin \mathcal {S}}, has a power savings, |\mathfrak E(N)| << N^1-e₀{|\mathfrak {E}(N)| \ll N^{1-\varepsilon_{0}}} for some ${\varepsilon_{0} > 0}${\varepsilon_{0} > 0}, as N → ∞.