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Extend $f$ by zero outside $[1,N]\cap \mathbb{Z}$. Here is a dyadic endpoint convention for small Type I and Type II sums. Write $D_M=[M,2M)\cap \mathbb{Z}$, with $M$ a power of two. Type I sums are $\delta$-small if, for every $M\le N^{1/100}$, dyadic $K$ with $MK\le N$, and arbitrary integer intervals $I_m\subset D_K$,Type II sums are $\delta$-small if, for all dyadic $M,K\in [N^{1/100},N^{99/100}]$ and sequences $|a_m|,|b_n|\le 1$,Zero extension handles boxes crossing the endpoint $mn=N$. Fixed choices of open or closed dyadic endpoints do not matter, but interval uniformity and uniformity in both bounded coefficient sequences do matter. These are the estimates used in the Vinogradov Type I–II method.

An interesting technical step is Fourier separation of interval cutoffs. For an integer interval $I_m$, let $\widehat{1_{I_m}}(\theta )={\sum }_{r\in I_m}e(-r\theta )$. Discrete Fourier inversion givesThe exponential geometric sum bound gives a common envelope $H_N(\theta )\ll \min (N,\Vert \theta {\Vert }^{-1})$, with ${\int }_0^1{H}_N\ll \log (2N)$. Divide the interval transform by this envelope: at each frequency it is a bounded coefficient depending on $m$, and $e(n\theta )$ is a bounded coefficient depending on $n$. The Type II sum assumption therefore bounds the interval-cutoff sum by $O(\delta N\log N)$. Choosing the outer unit phases to turn each inner sum into its modulus extends the Type I sum bound to boxes where both variables are in the Type II range.

Take $U=V=\lfloor N^{1/3}\rfloor$. With subscripts denoting truncation of arithmetic functions, the Vaughan identity iswhere $\ast$ now means Dirichlet convolution. For completeness it follows from $\mu \ast 1=ϵ$ and $\Lambda \ast 1=\log$: expand ${\mu }_{>U}\ast {\Lambda }_{>V}\ast 1$, cancel the short terms, and retain $\Lambda$. The short first term contributes $O(N^{1/3}\log N)$ to the sum against $f$.

The next two terms give Type I sums. The logarithmic term has outer coefficient $\mu (m)$, $m\le U$, and inner factor $\log n$, removed by partial summation at a cost $O(\log N)$. In the other term the outer variable is $m=cd\le UV$ with coefficientThis logarithmic coefficient bound in Vaughan identity avoids a loss from a divisor weight. On boxes with short outer variable use the hypothesis directly; on boxes where both variables are at least $N^{1/100}$ use the extended bound proved above. Boxes with inner variable less than $N^{1/100}$ contain at most $O(N^{2/3+1/100})$ pairs in total and are treated trivially. All remaining inner scales are at most $N^{99/100}$ whenever the outer scale exceeds $N^{1/100}$.

For the final convolution, group the variables asBoth variables lie between constant multiples of $N^{1/3}$ and $N^{2/3}$, well inside the Type II range. Divide $b(n)$ by $\log N$, and apply the Type II sum estimate. If the product cutoff is kept explicitly, Fourier separation of interval cutoffs costs only one extra logarithm; zero extension also permits its omission. There are $O({\log }^{2}N)$ boxes in the dyadic decomposition. The coefficient bound and, where needed, partial summation cost at most one more logarithm. These estimates give the convenient boundWith $\delta =(\log N{)}^{-20}$, each term is $o(N)$, proving the assertion. The grouping of the long term uses the nonnegativity of the Von Mangoldt function; more usual groupings instead control a divisor coefficient by a second-moment truncation. Ben Green's notes, Sections 2.3–2.4 describe that standard alternative.

Now take the sign version of the Thue–Morse sequence, $f(n)=(-1{)}^{s_2(n)}$. Concatenation of binary digits gives $f(a{2}^j+r)=f(a)f(r)$ for $0\le r<2^j$. Expanding over all choices of digits proves the Thue–Morse Fourier productPair adjacent factors. If $u=|\cos (\pi t)|$, their modulus issince the maximum on $[0,1]$ occurs at $u=1/\sqrt{3}$. Thus $|S_j(\theta )|\ll 2^{\sigma j}$ uniformly, where $\sigma =\frac{1}{2}{\log }_{2}B=2-\frac{3}{4}{\log }_{2}3<1$.

Every integer interval $J\subset [0,N]$ is a disjoint union of aligned binary blocks with at most two blocks of each length. On such a block the digit concatenation identity and the Thue–Morse Fourier product give the same bound, up to a unit phase. Summing the geometric series proves the uniform interval cancellation for binary digit parityFor a fixed $m$, the sum ${\sum }_{n\in I_m}f(mn)$ is a sum over multiples of $m$ in an integer interval $J\subset [1,N]$. The additive character orthogonality filter givesIts modulus is $O(N^{\sigma })$, independently of $m$ and the interval. Summing at most $O(N^{1/100})$ outer values proves the small Type I sums for binary digit parity:This is smaller than $(\log N{)}^{-20}$ for sufficiently large $N$. It proves the required Type I cancellation; the substantially harder Type II cancellation is not needed for this final clause.

This method uses cancellation in Type I sums and Type II sums to control a sum weighted by the Von Mangoldt function. The Vaughan identity separates the short-factor contributions from bilinear ones. Fourier separation of interval cutoffs permits a hyperbolic product cutoff. Ben Green's 2007 notes, Sections 2.3–2.4 give a version adapted to binary digit sums.