English

An irrationality measure for Liouville numbers and conditional measures for Euler's constant

Number Theory 2007-05-23 v1

Abstract

The irrationality exponent μ(t)\mu(t) of an irrational number t, defined using the irrationality measure 1/qμ1/q^\mu, distinguishes among non-Liouville numbers and is infinite for Liouville numbers. Using the irrationality measure 1/βq1/\beta^q, we define the "irrationality base" β(t)\beta(t), which distinguishes among Liouville numbers and is 1 for non-Liouville numbers. We give some properties and examples. Assuming a condition on certain linear forms in logarithms, for which we present numerical evidence supplied by P. Sebah, we prove an upper bound on the irrationality base of Euler's constant, γ\gamma. If γ\gamma is irrational and the condition turns out to be false in a certain strong sense, we prove an upper bound on μ(γ)\mu(\gamma).

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.math/0307308,
  title  = {An irrationality measure for Liouville numbers and conditional measures for Euler's constant},
  author = {Jonathan Sondow},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:math/0307308},
  year   = {2007}
}

Comments

12 pages, 1 figure, details of part of a talk at Journe\'es Arithme\'tiques XXIII in Graz

R2 v1 2026-07-22T16:56:29.254Z