Fix an integer $n\ge 2$. To each non-zero point $\mathbf{u}$ in $\mathbb{R}^n$, one attaches several numbers called exponents of Diophantine approximation. However, as Khintchine first observed, these numbers are not independent of each other. This raises the problem of describing the set of all possible values that a given family of exponents can take by varying the point $\mathbf{u}$. To avoid trivialities, one restricts to points $\mathbf{u}$ whose coordinates are linearly independent over $\mathbb{Q}$. The resulting set of values is called the spectrum of these exponents. We show that, in an appropriate setting, any such spectrum is a compact connected set. In the case $n=3$, we prove moreover that it is a semi-algebraic set closed under component-wise minimum. For $n=3$, we also obtain a description of the spectrum of a family of six exponents recently introduced by Schmidt and Summerer.
This text is a slightly expanded version of a survey article on certain aspects of low dimensional dynamics and number theory written after a kind invitation by the editors of the Notices of the American Mathematical Society.
Let $γ\in(0;\frac{1}{2}),τ\geq 1$ and define the "$γ,τ$ Diophantine set" as: $$D_{γ, τ}:=\{α\in (0;1): ||qα||\geq\fracγ{q^τ}\quad\forall q\in\Bbb{N}\},\qquad ||x||:=\inf_{p\in\Bbb{Z}}|x-p|.$$ We analyze the topology of these sets and we show that generally they have isolated points.
Let $γ\in(0;\frac{1}{2}),τ\geq 1$ and define the "$γ,τ$ Diophantine set" as: $$D_{γ,τ}:=\{α\in (0;1): ||qα||\geq\fracγ{q^τ}\quad\forall q\in\Bbb{N}\},\qquad||x||:=\inf_{p\in\Bbb{Z}}|x-p|. $$ In this paper we study the topology of these sets and we show that, for large $τ$ and for almost all $γ>0$, $D_{γ,τ}$ is a Cantor set.
Arguably, the first bridge between vast, ancient, but disjoint domains of mathematical knowledge, - topology and number theory, - was built only during the last fifty years. This bridge is the theory of spectra in stable homotopy theory. This connection poses the challenge: discover new information in number theory using the independently-developed machinery of homotopy theory. In this combined research/survey paper we suggest to apply homotopy spectra to the problem of distribution of rational points upon algebraic manifolds.
In the present paper we establish bounds for the size of the spectral gap for actions of algebraic groups on certain homogeneous spaces. Our approach is based on estimating operator norms of suitable averaging operators, and we develop techniques for establishing both upper and lower bounds for such norms. We shall show that this analytic problem is closely related to the arithmetic problem of establishing bounds on the discrepancy of distribution for rational points on algebraic group varieties. As an application, we show how to establish an effective bound for property $τ$ of congruence subg…
We generalize the construction of Roy's Fibonacci type numbers to the case of a Sturmian recurrence and we determine the classical exponents of approximation $ω_2(ξ)$, $\widehatω_2(ξ)$, $λ_2(ξ)$, $\widehatλ_2(ξ)$ associated with these real numbers. This also extends similar results established by Bugeaud and Laurent in the case of Sturmian continued fractions. More generally we provide an almost complete description of the combined graph of parametric successive minima functions defined by Schmidt and Summerer in dimension two for such Sturmian type numbers. As a side result we obtain new info…
The paper deals with best one--sided (lower or upper) Diophantine approximations of the $\ell$-th kind ($\ell\in\mathbb{N}$). We use the ordinary continued fraction expansions to formulate explicit criteria for a fraction $\frac{p}{q}\in\mathbb{Q}$ to be a best lower or upper Diophantine approximation of the $\ell$-th kind to a given $α\in\mathbb{R}$. The sets of best lower and upper approximations are examined in terms of their cardinalities and metric properties. Applying our results in spectral analysis, we obtain an explanation for the rarity of so-called Bethe--Sommerfeld quantum graphs.
The field of formal Laurent series is a natural analogue of the real numbers, and mathematicians have been translating well-known results about rational approximations to that setting. In the framework of power series over the rational numbers, we define and study the Lagrange spectrum, related to Diophantine approximation of irrationals, and the Markov spectrum, related to representation by indefinite binary quadratic forms. We compute both spectra explicitly, and show that they coincide and exhibit no gaps, contrary to what happens over the reals.
We study Diophantine approximation in completions of functions fields over finite fields, and in particular in fields of formal Laurent series over finite fields. We introduce a Lagrange spectrum for the approximation by orbits of quadratic irrationals under the modular group. We give nonarchimedean analogs of various well known results in the real case: the closedness and boundedness of the Lagrange spectrum, the existence of a Hall ray, as well as computations of various Hurwitz constants. We use geometric methods of group actions on Bruhat-Tits trees.
