On a Problem of D. H. Lehmer and Kloosterman Sums

Let q3 be an odd number, a be any fixed positive integer with (a, q)=1. For each integer b with 1b<q and (b, q)=1, it is clear that there exists one and only one c with 0<c<q such that bca (mod q). Let N(a, q) denote the number of all solutions of the congruent equation bca (mod q) for 1b, c<q in which b and c are of opposite parity, and let . The main purpose of this paper is to study the distribution properties of E(a, q), and to give a sharper hybrid mean value formula involving E(a, q) and Kloosterman sums.Received January 24, 2002; in revised form August 12, 2002Published online February 28, 2003