Do you think that the U.S. government provoked an attack specifically on Pearl Harbor, or that they just wanted the Japanese to attack somewhere?

I think they wanted the Japanese to attack somewhere, but they were aware of the fact that Pearl Harbor was a likely target.

Where exactly do you place the boundary of deliberate provocation? That is, does not trying too hard to prevent the attack count, or had they have to be actively persuading the Japanese and moving the fleets into easily attackable positions?

I think they were actively persuading the Japanese to commit some act of war, and were not trying too hard to prevent the specific act of war that happened.