English

On the derivative of the Minkowski question-mark function

Number Theory 2021-09-01 v2

Abstract

The Minkowski question-mark function ?(x)?(x) is a continuous strictly increasing function defined on [0,1][0,1] interval. It is well known fact that the derivative of this function, if exists, can take only two values: 00 and ++\infty. It is also known that the value of the derivative ?(x)?'(x) at the point x=[0;a1,a2,,at,]x=[0;a_1,a_2,\ldots,a_t,\ldots] is connected with the limit behavior of the arithmetic mean (a1+a2++at)/t(a_1+a_2+\ldots+a_t)/t. Particularly, N. Moshchevitin and A. Dushistova showed that if a1+a2++at<κ1ta_1+a_2+\ldots+a_t<\kappa_1 t, where κ1=2log(1+52)/log2=1.3884\kappa_1 = 2\log\bigl({\frac{1+\sqrt{5}}{2}}\bigr)/\log{2}= 1.3884\ldots, then ?(x)=+?'(x)=+\infty. They also proved that the constant κ1\kappa_1 is non-improvable. We consider a dual problem: how small can be the quantity a1+a2++atκ1ta_1+a_2+\ldots+a_t-\kappa_1 t if ?(x)=0?'(x)=0? We obtain the non-improvable estimates of this quantity.

Cite

@article{arxiv.2107.00461,
  title  = {On the derivative of the Minkowski question-mark function},
  author = {Dmitry Gayfulin},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2107.00461},
  year   = {2021}
}

Comments

20 pages

R2 v1 2026-06-24T03:48:26.334Z