Research Papers
On the derivative of the Minkowski question-mark function for numbers with bounded partial quotients
D. R. Gayfulin Institute for Information Transmission Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences (Kharkevich Institute)
Abstract:
It is well known that the derivative of the Minkowski function
$?(x)$ may take only the values
$0$ and
$+\infty$ (provided it exists).
Let
$\mathbf{E}_n$ be the set of irrational numbers on the interval
$[0; 1]$ whose contitued fraction expansion has all convergents of at most
$n$.
It is known also that the quantity
$?'(x)$ at the point
$x=[0;a_1,a_2,\ldots,a_t,\ldots]$ is related to the limit behavior of the arithmetic mean
$(a_1+a_2+\ldots+a_t)/t$.
In particular, as was shown by A. Dushistova, I. Kan, and N. Moshchevitin, if for
$x\in \mathbf{E}_n$ we have
$a_1+a_2+\ldots+a_t>(\kappa^{(n)}_1-\varepsilon) t$,
where
$\varepsilon>0$, and
$\kappa^{(n)}_1$ is a certain explicit constant, then
$?'(x)=+\infty$. They also showed that the quantity
$\kappa^{(n)}_1$ cannot be replaced by a greater constant.
In the present paper, a dual problem is treated, specifically, how small the quantity
$a_1+a_2+\ldots+a_t-\kappa^{(n)}_1 t$ may be if it is known that
$?'(x)=0$/ Optimal estimates in this problem are deduced.
Keywords:
fraction, continuant, Minkowski function. Received: 14.12.2021