On the Continued Fraction Expansion of Almost All Real Numbers

Fuente: arXiv
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Autores principales: Jin, Alex, Singh, Shreyas, Zhang, Zhuo, Hildebrand, AJ
Formato: Preprint
Publicado: 2024
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author Jin, Alex
Singh, Shreyas
Zhang, Zhuo
Hildebrand, AJ
author_facet Jin, Alex
Singh, Shreyas
Zhang, Zhuo
Hildebrand, AJ
contents By a classical result of Gauss and Kuzmin, the continued fraction expansion of a ``random'' real number contains each digit $a\in\mathbb{N}$ with asymptotic frequency $\log_2(1+1/(a(a+2)))$. We generalize this result in two directions: First, for certain sets $A\subset\mathbb{N}$, we establish simple explicit formulas for the frequency with which the continued fraction expansion of a random real number contains a digit from the set $A$. For example, we show that digits of the form $p-1$, where $p$ is prime, appear with frequency $\log_2(π^2/6)$. Second, we obtain a simple formula for the frequency with which a string of $k$ consecutive digits $a$ appears in the continued fraction expansion of a random real number. In particular, when $a=1$, this frequency is given by $|\log_2(1+(-1)^k/F_{k+2})|$, where $F_n$ is the $n$th Fibonacci number. Finally, we compare the frequencies predicted by these results with actual frequencies found among the first 300 million continued fraction digits of $π$, and we provide strong statistical evidence that the continued fraction expansion of $π$ behaves like that of a random real number.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2403_16761
institution arXiv
publishDate 2024
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle On the Continued Fraction Expansion of Almost All Real Numbers
Jin, Alex
Singh, Shreyas
Zhang, Zhuo
Hildebrand, AJ
Number Theory
11K50, 11A55
By a classical result of Gauss and Kuzmin, the continued fraction expansion of a ``random'' real number contains each digit $a\in\mathbb{N}$ with asymptotic frequency $\log_2(1+1/(a(a+2)))$. We generalize this result in two directions: First, for certain sets $A\subset\mathbb{N}$, we establish simple explicit formulas for the frequency with which the continued fraction expansion of a random real number contains a digit from the set $A$. For example, we show that digits of the form $p-1$, where $p$ is prime, appear with frequency $\log_2(π^2/6)$. Second, we obtain a simple formula for the frequency with which a string of $k$ consecutive digits $a$ appears in the continued fraction expansion of a random real number. In particular, when $a=1$, this frequency is given by $|\log_2(1+(-1)^k/F_{k+2})|$, where $F_n$ is the $n$th Fibonacci number. Finally, we compare the frequencies predicted by these results with actual frequencies found among the first 300 million continued fraction digits of $π$, and we provide strong statistical evidence that the continued fraction expansion of $π$ behaves like that of a random real number.
title On the Continued Fraction Expansion of Almost All Real Numbers
topic Number Theory
11K50, 11A55
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.16761