Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 November 2018
Let ${{\mathbf{F}}_{q}}[T]$ be the ring of polynomials over the finite field of $q$ elements and $Y$ a large integer. We say a polynomial in ${{\mathbf{F}}_{q}}[T]$ is $Y$-smooth if all of its irreducible factors are of degree at most $Y$. We show that a ternary additive equation $a\,+\,b\,=\,c$ over $Y$-smooth polynomials has many solutions. As an application, if $S$ is the set of first $s$ primes in ${{\mathbf{F}}_{q}}[T]$ and $s$ is large, we prove that the $S$-unit equation $u\,+\,v\,=\,1$ has at least $\text{exp}\left( {{s}^{1/6-\in }}\,\text{log}\,\text{q} \right)$ solutions.