Diophantine approximation

Diophantine approximation studies how closely numbers can be approximated by rational or algebraic numbers subject to bounds on their arithmetic complexity.

For every irrational number $\alpha$ and positive integer $N$, there are integers $p,q$ with $1\le q\le N$ such thatThe proof applies the pigeonhole principle to the $N+1$ fractional parts of $0,\alpha ,\dots ,N\alpha$.

A reduced fraction $p/q$ is a best rational approximation of the first kind to a real number $\alpha$ when no rational number with denominator at most $q$ is closer to $\alpha$.

Let $L_1,\dots ,L_n$ be linearly independent linear forms in $n$ variables with algebraic coefficients. For every $\epsilon >0$, the nonzero $\mathbf{x}\in {\mathbb{Z}}^n$ satisfyinglie in finitely many proper linear subspaces of ${\mathbb{Q}}^n$. There are variants involving a finite set of places of a number field.

If $\alpha$ is a real algebraic irrational number and $\epsilon >0$, thenhas only finitely many reduced rational solutions $p/q$.

Let $\alpha$ be an algebraic irrational number, let $S$ be a finite set of primes, and let $\epsilon >0$. There are only finitely many reduced fractions $p/q$ whose denominator is S-smooth number and which satisfyThis is the denominator-restricted consequence of the finite-place Schmidt subspace theorem.

A homogeneous linear form in logarithms of nonzero algebraic numbers has the form

Choose logarithms of nonzero algebraic numbers ${\alpha }_1,\dots ,{\alpha }_n$ and algebraic numbers ${\beta }_0,\dots ,{\beta }_n$, and putLet $A_j$ bound $10$, the naive polynomial height of the minimal polynomial of ${\alpha }_j$, and $\exp (|\log {\alpha }_j|)$. Let $B$ bound all the corresponding heights of the ${\beta }_j$ and all $\log A_j$. There is an effective constant $C$, depending only on $n$ and the degree of the number field generated by the data, such that

Choose logarithms of nonzero algebraic numbers ${\alpha }_1,\dots ,{\alpha }_n$, putand choose $A_i\ge 10$ large enough to bound the naive polynomial height of the minimal polynomial of ${\alpha }_i$ and $\exp (|\log {\alpha }_i|)$. After relabelling the terms if useful, setThere is an effectively computable constant $C$, depending only on $n$ and the degree of the number field generated by the ${\alpha }_i$, such that

The division by $\log A_n$ is the useful refinement over the general lower bound for a linear form in logarithms when one algebraic number has a large height correlated with a coefficient.

Let $L$ be a fixed number field and let $V\subset L$ be a fixed rational linear subspace for which the associated norm form has no unit-family degeneracy. There are effective constants $A,C>0$ such that every $z\in V\cap {\mathcal{O}}_L$ with nonzero field norm $m$ satisfiesTo prove this, factor the principal ideal $(z)$, write its generators as a bounded factor times powers of fundamental units, use the linear relations defining $V$, and apply the Baker lower bound for a homogeneous linear form in logarithms to bound the unit exponents by $O(\log |m|)$. For $L=\mathbb{Q}(\alpha )K$ with $[\mathbb{Q}(\alpha ):\mathbb{Q}]=3$, $[K:\mathbb{Q}]=2$, and $V={\mathrm{span}}_{\mathbb{Q}}\{1,\alpha ,\omega \}$ for a basis $1,\omega$ of $K$, the coprime degrees rule out the degeneracy.

Let $K$ be a number field of degree $D$, and let $L_1,\dots ,L_M$ be linear forms in $N>DM$ variables with coefficients in $K$ and projective height at most $\mathcal{H}\ge 1$. There is a nonzero $\mathbf{x}\in {\mathbb{Z}}^N$ satisfying every $L_j(\mathbf{x})=0$ andFor $K=\mathbb{Q}$, this follows by applying the pigeonhole principle to the images of the integer box $\{0,\dots ,Y{\}}^N$ under $(L_1,\dots ,L_M)$. Expanding coefficients in a rational basis of $K$ gives the factor $D$ in the general count.

The $j$th normalized derivative isIf $P(X)={\sum }_r{a}_r{X}^r$ has integer coefficients, then $D_{j}P(X)={\sum }_{r\ge j}\left(\genfrac{}{}{0ex}{}{r}{j}\right)a_r{X}^{r-j}$ also has integer coefficients. For $\mathrm{deg}P\le n$, its naive polynomial height is at most $2^{n}H(P)$.

For an algebraic number $\alpha$ of degree $d$ and a small $\kappa >0$, Siegel lemma constructs integer polynomials $P,Q$ of degree at most $n$ and exponentially bounded coefficients for which $P(X)+\alpha Q(X)$ has a zero at $X=\alpha$ of order close to $2n/d$. A Wronskian then prevents every specialization $P(X)+yQ(X)$ from having a high-order zero at a rational point. This is the auxiliary-polynomial mechanism in the Thue-Siegel method.

Let $F(X,Y)=P(X)+YQ(X)$ with $P,Q\in \mathbb{Z}[X]$ linearly independent, ${\mathrm{deg}}_{X}F\le n$, and $H(F)\le C^n$. For every $\delta >0$, if a reduced rational $p/q$ has sufficiently large denominator in terms of $C$ and $\delta$, then $F(X,y)$ has multiplicity at most $\delta n+1$ at $p/q$, for every fixed real $y$.

Indeed, the nonzero Wronskianhas degree below $2n$ and height at most $C_0^n$. A zero of multiplicity $r$ of $F(X,y)$ forces a zero of multiplicity at least $r-1$ of $W$. By Gauss lemma for polynomials, $(qX-p{)}^{r-1}$ then divides $W$ in $\mathbb{Z}[X]$, so $q^{r-1}$ divides the leading coefficient of $W$ and is at most $C_0^n$.

If a real algebraic number $\alpha$ has degree $d\ge 3$, then for every $\epsilon >0$ there are only finitely many reduced fractions $p/q$ such thatThe Thue-Siegel auxiliary polynomial proof chooses two such approximations, constructs an auxiliary polynomial nonzero at their pair, and compares its denominator lower bound with the upper bound supplied by its high-order zero at $(\alpha ,\alpha )$.

A simple continued fraction recursively expands a real number by taking integer parts and reciprocals. Its convergents are exceptionally good rational approximations.

Starting from $x_0=x>0$, definewhenever $x_n$ is not an integer. This produces $x=[a_0;a_1,a_2,\dots ]$.

A simple continued fraction terminates exactly when its value is rational. For a reduced rational $p/q$, each reciprocal step is one step of the Euclidean algorithm and replaces the denominator by a strictly smaller nonnegative remainder.

Truncating a simple continued fraction gives a convergent; sufficiently accurate rational approximations with bounded denominator occur among these convergents.

With $M(a)=\left(\begin{array}{cc}a& 1\\ 1& 0\end{array}\right)$,

If $p_n/q_n=[a_0,\dots ,a_n]$, then appending a positive tail $x$ gives

For positive $a_j,b_j$, define $p_0=a_0$, $p_{-1}=1$, $q_0=1$, $q_{-1}=0$ andThenand $p_n/q_n$ is the corresponding finite generalized continued fraction.

When $b_j=1$ and $a_j$ are positive integers, adjacent convergents satisfyEven and odd convergents are monotone from opposite sides, their separation is $1/(q_n{q}_{n+1})$, and $q_n\to \infty$. They therefore have a common limit $x$, with

If every $a_j=b_j=1$, then $p_n=F_{n+2}$ and $q_n=F_{n+1}$. Binet's formulashows that the convergents tend to $\varphi$ and gives sharp scaled errors through $F_{n+1}-\varphi F_n={\psi }^n$.

The simple continued fraction of a quadratic irrational is eventually periodic. For a nonsquare positive integer $D$, the continued fraction of $\sqrt{D}$ is periodic after its integer part.

Successive complete quotients repeat after two steps:

Rationalizing successive complete quotients gives

If $p_n/q_n$ are the convergents of $\sqrt{11}$, then

For the even convergents of $\sqrt{11}$,Since the second factor has norm one, every such convergent satisfies $p_{2m}^2-11q_{2m}^2=-2$.

If an irrational algebraic number has degree $d$, then $|\alpha -p/q|>C(\alpha )q^{-d}$. Approximations of arbitrarily larger polynomial order therefore prove transcendence.

For the degree-$d$ minimal polynomial $P\in \mathbb{Z}[X]$ of $\alpha$, the nonzero integer $q^{d}P(p/q)$ gives $|P(p/q)|\ge q^{-d}$. On a fixed neighbourhood of $\alpha$, the mean value theorem boundsOutside that neighbourhood the desired lower bound is immediate, giving $|\alpha -p/q|>c(\alpha )q^{-d}$ after decreasing the constant.

For distinct reduced fractions $p/q$ and $u/v$,If $q>v$, this is strictly greater than $q^{-2}$.

Every convergent series of positive rational terms has a subseries whose rational partial sums $p_j/q_j$ satisfyChoose each new term small enough to enforce all previous tail bounds. Separation of reduced fractions first makes $\alpha$ irrational, and the Liouville approximation theorem then rules out every finite algebraic degree.