English

Transcendence of the Gaussian Liouville number and relatives

Number Theory 2008-06-11 v1

Abstract

{\em The Liouville number}, denoted ll, is defined by l:=0.100101011101101111100...,l:=0.100101011101101111100..., where the nnth bit is given by 1/2(1+\gl(n)){1/2}(1+\gl(n)); here \gl\gl is the Liouville function for the parity of prime divisors of nn. Presumably the Liouville number is transcendental, though at present, a proof is unattainable. Similarly, define {\em the Gaussian Liouville number} by γ:=0.110110011100100111011...\gamma:=0.110110011100100111011... where the nnth bit reflects the parity of the number of rational Gaussian primes dividing nn, 1 for even and 0 for odd. In this paper, we prove that the Gaussian Liouville number and its relatives are transcendental. One such relative is the number k=023k23k2+23k+1=0.101100101101100100101...,\sum_{k=0}^\infty\frac{2^{3^k}}{2^{3^k2}+2^{3^k}+1}=0.101100101101100100101..., where the nnth bit is determined by the parity of the number of prime divisors that are equivalent to 2 modulo 3. We use methods similar to that of Dekking's proof of the transcendence of the Thue--Morse number \cite{Dek1} as well as a theorem of Mahler's \cite{Mahl1}. (For completeness we provide proofs of all needed results.) This method involves proving the transcendence of formal power series arising as generating functions of completely multiplicative functions.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.0806.1694,
  title  = {Transcendence of the Gaussian Liouville number and relatives},
  author = {Peter Borwein and Michael Coons},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:0806.1694},
  year   = {2008}
}

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17 pages