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The real cubic case of Mahler's conjecture
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 February 2010
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For any (real or complex) transcendental number ξ and any integer n > 0 let ϑn(ξ) be the least upper bound of the set of all positive numbers σ for which there exist infinitely many polynomials p1(x), p2(x), … of degree n, with integer coefficients, satisfying
where ‖pi‖ denotes the “height” of pi(x), i.e. the maximum modulus of the coefficients. Plainly ϑn(ξ) serves as a measure of how well (or how badly) the number zero can be approximated by values of nth degree integral polynomials at the point ξ. It can be shown by means of the “Schubfachprinzip” that, at worst,
if the transcendental number ξ is real, and
if it is complex, i.e.ϑn(ξ) is never smaller than these bounds. Furthermore, a conjecture of K. Mahler may be interpreted as stating that for almost all real and for almost all complex numbers the equations (2) and (3), respectively, are actually true; in other words, almost all transcendental numbers have the worst possible approximation property for any degree n.
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