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TL;DR : The question is how do I show that $\displaystyle \lim_{n\to\infty}\frac{1}{n}\sum_{k=0}^{n-1}e^{ik^2}=0$ ?

A little explanation about this question :

In Real and Complex Analysis by Rudin there is the folowing exercise :

Let $f$ be a continuous, complex valued, $1$-periodic function and $\alpha$ an irrational number. Show that $\displaystyle \lim_{n\to\infty}\frac{1}{n}\sum_{k=0}^{n-1}f(\alpha k)=\int_0^1f(x)\mathrm d x$. (We say that the $\left \lfloor{\alpha k}\right \rfloor $ are uniformly distributed in $[0;1]$)

With the hint given by Rudin the proof is pretty straightforward : First one show that this is true for every $f_j=\exp(2i\pi j\cdot)$ with $j\in \mathbf{Z} $. Then using density of trigonometric polynomials in $(C^0_1(\mathbf{R}),\|\cdot\|_\infty)$ and the fact that the $0$-th Fourier coefficient of $f$ is it's integral over a period, one can conclude using a $3\varepsilon$ argument. This proof is possible because one can compute explicitly the sums $$\displaystyle \frac{1}{n}\sum_{k=0}^{n-1}e^{2i\pi j \alpha k}=\frac{1}{n}\cdot\frac{1-e^{2i\pi j\alpha n}}{1-e^{2i\pi j\alpha}}\longrightarrow 0 \text{ when }n\to\infty \text{ and }j\in \mathbf{Z}^*.$$

Now using a different approach (with dynamical systems and ergodic theorems) Tao show in his blog that the $\left \lfloor{\alpha k^2}\right \rfloor $ are uniformly distributed in $[0;1]$ (corollary 2 in this blog). I'd like to prove this result using the methods of the exercice of Rudin, but this reduce to show that $$\displaystyle \frac{1}{n}\sum_{k=0}^{n-1}e^{2i\pi j \alpha k^2}\longrightarrow 0 \text{ when }n\to\infty \text{ and }j\in \mathbf{Z}^*.$$ Hence my question.

More generaly the question would be "given an increasing sequence of integers $(u_k)$ is there a criterium/method/necessary or sufficient condition/wathever to tell if $\displaystyle \lim_{n\to\infty}\frac{1}{n}\sum_{k=0}^{n-1}e^{2i\pi \alpha u_k}=0$ ?

TL;DR : The question is how do I show that $\displaystyle \lim_{n\to\infty}\frac{1}{n}\sum_{k=0}^{n-1}e^{ik^2}=0$ ?

More generaly the question would be : given an increasing sequence of integers $(u_k)$ and an irrational number $\alpha$, how do I tell if $\displaystyle \lim_{n\to\infty}\frac{1}{n}\sum_{k=0}^{n-1}e^{2i\pi \alpha u_k}=0$ ? I'm not asking for a criterium for completely general sequences, an answer for sequences like $u_k=k^2$, $v_k=k!$ or $w_k=p(k)$ with $p\in \mathbf Z [X]$ would already be awesome.

A little explanation about this question :

In Real and Complex Analysis by Rudin there is the folowing exercise :

Let $f$ be a continuous, complex valued, $1$-periodic function and $\alpha$ an irrational number. Show that $\displaystyle \lim_{n\to\infty}\frac{1}{n}\sum_{k=0}^{n-1}f(\alpha k)=\int_0^1f(x)\mathrm d x$. (We say that $(\alpha k)_k$ is uniformly distributed in $\mathbf R / \mathbf Z$)

With the hint given by Rudin the proof is pretty straightforward : First one show that this is true for every $f_j=\exp(2i\pi j\cdot)$ with $j\in \mathbf{Z} $. Then using density of trigonometric polynomials in $(C^0_1(\mathbf{R}),\|\cdot\|_\infty)$ and the fact that the $0$-th Fourier coefficient of $f$ is it's integral over a period, one can conclude using a $3\varepsilon$ argument. This proof is possible because one can compute explicitly the sums $$\displaystyle \frac{1}{n}\sum_{k=0}^{n-1}e^{2i\pi j \alpha k}=\frac{1}{n}\cdot\frac{1-e^{2i\pi j\alpha n}}{1-e^{2i\pi j\alpha}}\longrightarrow 0 \text{ when }n\to\infty \text{ and }j\in \mathbf{Z}^*.$$

Now using a different approach (with dynamical systems and ergodic theorems) Tao show in his blog that $(\alpha k^2)_k $ is uniformly distributed in $\mathbf R / \mathbf Z$ (corollary 2 in this blog). I'd like to prove this result using the methods of the exercice of Rudin, but this reduce to show that $$\displaystyle \frac{1}{n}\sum_{k=0}^{n-1}e^{2i\pi j \alpha k^2}\longrightarrow 0 \text{ when }n\to\infty \text{ and }j\in \mathbf{Z}^*.$$ Hence my question.

P.S. When i ask wolfram alpha to compute $\sum_{k\geq0}e^{ik^2}$ it answer me with some particular value of the Jacobi-theta function. Of course the serie is not convergent but maybe it's some kind of resummation technique or analytic continuation. I'm not familiar with these things but it might be interesting to look in that direction.

TL;DR : The question is how do I show that $\displaystyle \lim_{n\to\infty}\frac{1}{n}\sum_{k=0}^{n-1}e^{ik^2}=0$ ?

A little explanation about this question :

In Real and Complex Analysis by Rudin there is the folowing exercise :

Let $f$ be a continuous, complex valued, $1$-periodic function and $\alpha$ an irrational number. Show that $\displaystyle \lim_{n\to\infty}\frac{1}{n}\sum_{k=0}^{n-1}f(\alpha k)=\int_0^1f(x)\mathrm d x$. (We say that the $\left \lfloor{\alpha k}\right \rfloor $ are uniformly distributed in $[0;1]$)

With the hint given by Rudin the proof is pretty straightforward : First one show that this is true for every $f_j=\exp(2i\pi j\cdot)$ with $j\in \mathbb{Z} $. Then using density of trigonometric polynomials in $(C^0_1(\mathbb{R}),\|\cdot\|_\infty)$ and the fact that the $0$-th Fourier coefficient of $f$ is it's integral over a period, one can conclude using a $3\varepsilon$ argument. This proof is possible because one can compute explicitly the sums $$\displaystyle \frac{1}{n}\sum_{k=0}^{n-1}e^{2i\pi j \alpha k}=\frac{1}{n}\cdot\frac{1-e^{2i\pi j\alpha n}}{1-e^{2i\pi j\alpha}}\longrightarrow 0 \text{ when }n\to\infty \text{ and }j\in \mathbb{Z}^*.$$

Now using a different approach (with dynamical systems and ergodic theorems) Tao show in his blog that the $\left \lfloor{\alpha k^2}\right \rfloor $ are uniformly distributed in $[0;1]$ (corollary 2 in this blog). I'd like to prove this result using the methods of the exercice of Rudin, but this reduce to show that $$\displaystyle \frac{1}{n}\sum_{k=0}^{n-1}e^{2i\pi j \alpha k^2}\longrightarrow 0 \text{ when }n\to\infty \text{ and }j\in \mathbb{Z}^*.$$ Hence my question.

More generaly the question would be "given an increasing sequence of integers $(u_k)$ is there a criterium/method/necessary or sufficient condition/wathever to tell if $\displaystyle \lim_{n\to\infty}\frac{1}{n}\sum_{k=0}^{n-1}e^{2i\pi \alpha u_k}=0$ ?

TL;DR : The question is how do I show that $\displaystyle \lim_{n\to\infty}\frac{1}{n}\sum_{k=0}^{n-1}e^{ik^2}=0$ ?

A little explanation about this question :

In Real and Complex Analysis by Rudin there is the folowing exercise :

Let $f$ be a continuous, complex valued, $1$-periodic function and $\alpha$ an irrational number. Show that $\displaystyle \lim_{n\to\infty}\frac{1}{n}\sum_{k=0}^{n-1}f(\alpha k)=\int_0^1f(x)\mathrm d x$. (We say that the $\left \lfloor{\alpha k}\right \rfloor $ are uniformly distributed in $[0;1]$)

With the hint given by Rudin the proof is pretty straightforward : First one show that this is true for every $f_j=\exp(2i\pi j\cdot)$ with $j\in \mathbf{Z} $. Then using density of trigonometric polynomials in $(C^0_1(\mathbf{R}),\|\cdot\|_\infty)$ and the fact that the $0$-th Fourier coefficient of $f$ is it's integral over a period, one can conclude using a $3\varepsilon$ argument. This proof is possible because one can compute explicitly the sums $$\displaystyle \frac{1}{n}\sum_{k=0}^{n-1}e^{2i\pi j \alpha k}=\frac{1}{n}\cdot\frac{1-e^{2i\pi j\alpha n}}{1-e^{2i\pi j\alpha}}\longrightarrow 0 \text{ when }n\to\infty \text{ and }j\in \mathbf{Z}^*.$$

Now using a different approach (with dynamical systems and ergodic theorems) Tao show in his blog that the $\left \lfloor{\alpha k^2}\right \rfloor $ are uniformly distributed in $[0;1]$ (corollary 2 in this blog). I'd like to prove this result using the methods of the exercice of Rudin, but this reduce to show that $$\displaystyle \frac{1}{n}\sum_{k=0}^{n-1}e^{2i\pi j \alpha k^2}\longrightarrow 0 \text{ when }n\to\infty \text{ and }j\in \mathbf{Z}^*.$$ Hence my question.

More generaly the question would be "given an increasing sequence of integers $(u_k)$ is there a criterium/method/necessary or sufficient condition/wathever to tell if $\displaystyle \lim_{n\to\infty}\frac{1}{n}\sum_{k=0}^{n-1}e^{2i\pi \alpha u_k}=0$ ?