Rational function approximations of the special function $e^{x}E_{1}(x)$ and applications to irrationality of Euler-Gompertz constant $\delta$
Abstract
In \cite{d4}, we gave a method to construct a continued fraction of the function . More precisely we define as the reciprocal of and we inductively define as the reciprocal of `` minus the main term of at infinity''. We calculated the main term of at infinity by using \cite[Proposition 2.1]{d4}. This method is analogous to the regular continued fraction expansion of real numbers. \\ \ \ \ \ In this paper we prove that the continued fraction converges to for any positive real number by following the proof of that the regular continued fraction of a positive and irrational real number converges to . Essentially we prove inequalities for (in Theorem 4.1) and inequalities (in Section 5). In particular, we prove stronger inequalities (than ) and give two proofs of these. In Section 6, we show an asymptotic relation between and by using properties of the classical Laguerre polynomial. In Section 7, we consider Euler-Gompertz constant . As far as we know, irrationality of is still an open problem. We construct a sequence of rationals such that approaches 0 as approaches infinity and give a sufficient condition of that for any positive integer . Therefore, if it is proved that this condition holds, it completes a proof of irrationality of Euler-Gompertz constant .
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2210.06768,
title = {Rational function approximations of the special function $e^{x}E_{1}(x)$ and applications to irrationality of Euler-Gompertz constant $\delta$},
author = {Naoki Murabayashi and Hayato Yoshida},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2210.06768},
year = {2024}
}