The distribution of the maximum of partial sums of Kloosterman sums and other trace functions

In this paper, we investigate the distribution of the maximum of partial sums of families of m-periodic complex-valued functions satisfying certain conditions. We obtain precise uniform estimates for the distribution function of this maximum in a near-optimal range. Our results apply to partial sums of Kloosterman sums and other families of l-adic trace functions, and are as strong as those obtained by Bober, Goldmakher, Granville and Koukoulopoulos for character sums. In particular, we improve on the recent work of the third author for Birch sums. However, unlike character sums, we are able to construct families of m-periodic complex-valued functions which satisfy our conditions, but for which the Polya-Vinogradov inequality is sharp.