English

A note on the irrationality of $\zeta_2(5)$

Number Theory 2026-05-28 v2 Algebraic Geometry Classical Analysis and ODEs Combinatorics

Abstract

In a spirit of Ap\'ery's proof of the irrationality of ζ(3)\zeta(3), we construct a sequence pn/qnp_n/q_n of rational approximations to the 22-adic zeta value ζ2(5)\zeta_2(5) which satisfy 0<ζ2(5)pn/qn2<max{pn,qn}1δ0 < |\zeta_2(5)-p_n/q_n|_2 < \max\{|p_n|,|q_n|\}^{-1-\delta} for an explicit constant δ>0\delta>0. This leads to a new proof of the irrationality of ζ2(5)\zeta_2(5), the result established recently by Calegari, Dimitrov and Tang using a different method. Furthermore, our approximations allow us to obtain an upper bound for the irrationality measure of this 22-adic quantity; namely, we show that μ(ζ2(5))(16log2)/(8log25)=20.342\mu(\zeta_2(5)) \le (16\log2)/(8\log2-5) = 20.342\dots.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2505.05005,
  title  = {A note on the irrationality of $\zeta_2(5)$},
  author = {Li Lai and Johannes Sprang and Wadim Zudilin},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2505.05005},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

2^2 x 5 pages