Abstract. The Oppenheim conjecture, proved by Margulis in 1986, states that the set of values at integral points of an indefinite quadratic form in three or more variables is dense, provided the form is not proportional to a rational form. In this paper we study the distribution of values of such a form. We show that if the signature of the form is not (2, 1) or (2, 2), then the values are uniformly distributed on the real line, provided the form is not proportional to a rational form. In the cases where the signature is (2, 1) or (2, 2) we show that no such universal formula exists, and give asymptotic upper bounds which are in general best possible.Let Q be an indefinite nondegenerate quadratic form in n variables. Let L Q = Q(Z n ) denote the set of values of Q at integral points. The Oppenheim conjecture, proved by Margulis (cf. [Mar]) states that if n ≥ 3, and Q is not proportional to a form with rational coefficients, then L Q is dense. The Oppenheim conjecture enjoyed attention and many studies since it was conjectured in 1929 mostly using analytic number theory methods. In this paper 1 we study some finer questions related to the distribution the values of Q at integral points.
1.Let ν be a continuous positive function on the sphere {v ∈ R n | v = 1}, and let Ω = {v ∈ R n | v < ν(v/ v )}. We denote by T Ω the dilate of Ω by T . Define the following set: (a,b) when there is no confusion about the form Q. Also let V (a,b)