English

Symmetries of the Three Gap Theorem

Number Theory 2023-04-04 v1 Combinatorics Dynamical Systems

Abstract

The Three Gap Theorem states that for any αR\alpha \in \mathbb{R} and NNN \in \mathbb{N}, the fractional parts of {0α,1α,,(N1)α}\{ 0\alpha, 1\alpha, \dots, (N - 1)\alpha \} partition the unit circle into gaps of at most three distinct lengths. We prove a result about symmetries in the order with which the sizes of gaps appear on the circle.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2208.01680,
  title  = {Symmetries of the Three Gap Theorem},
  author = {Aneesh Dasgupta and Roland Roeder},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2208.01680},
  year   = {2023}
}

Comments

To appear in The American Math Monthly. This is the author's original manuscript (AOM), and this version does not include several improvements that took place due to the refereeing process. Comments welcome!