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Bugeaud Collection of Conjectures and Open Questions: Fractional Parts of Powers

Bugeaud Collection of Conjectures and Open Questions: Fractional Parts of Powers

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Specialist source · status unassessedAs of 2026-09-10Source & evidence ↓

Problem statement

problem_10_1

Problem 10.1. Are there a transcendental number α\alpha and a positive real number ξ\xi such that ∥ξαn∥\lVert \xi \alpha^n \rVert tends to~00 as~nn tends to infinity? [Har19] (Trivial for ∣α∣<1|\alpha| < 1)

problem_10_2

Problem 10.2. To prove that ∥en∥\lVert e^n \rVert does not tend to 0 as n tends to infinity.

problem_10_3

Problem 10.3. To prove that there exists a positive real number~cc such that ∥en∥>e−cn\lVert e^n \rVert > e^{−cn}, for every~n≥1n \ge 1. Posed by Mahler [Mah53].

waldschmidt

Waldschmidt [Wal03] conjectured that a stronger result holds, namely that there exists a positive real number~cc such that ∥en∥>n−c\lVert e^n \rVert > n^{-c} for every~n≥2n \ge 2. This is supported by metrical results [Kok45].

Note: the bound n−cn^{-c} equals 11 when n=1n = 1 for all cc, while the distance to the nearest integer is always at most 1/21/2, so the conjecture must start at n≥2n \ge 2.

Lean 4

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Formal statement

Lean 4
/-
Copyright 2026 The Formal Conjectures Authors.

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
You may obtain a copy of the License at

    https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
limitations under the License.
-/

import FormalConjecturesUtil

/-!
# Bugeaud Collection of Conjectures and Open Questions: Fractional Parts of Powers

Chapter 10 of the book collects open questions. This file formalizes Problems 10.1,
10.2, 10.3 and the unnumbered conjecture by Waldschmidt.

*References:*
  - [Bug12] Bugeaud, Yann. "Distribution modulo one and Diophantine approximation."
    Vol. 193. Cambridge University Press, 2012. Chapter 10.
  - [Har19] Hardy, Gr H. "A problem of Diophantine approximation."
    J. Indian Math. Soc 11 (1919): 162-166.
  - [Kok45] Koksma, J. F. "Sur la théorie métrique des approximations diophantiques."
    Indag. Math 7 (1945): 54-70.
  - [Mah53] Mahler, Kurt. "On the approximation of logarithms of algebraic numbers."
    Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A,
    Mathematical and Physical Sciences 245.898 (1953): 371-398.
  - [Wal03](http://webusers.imj-prg.fr/~michel.waldschmidt/articles/pdf/Cetraro.pdf)
    Waldschmidt, Michel. "Linear independence measures for logarithms of algebraic numbers."
    Diophantine Approximation: Lectures given at the CIME Summer School held in Cetraro, Italy,
    June 28–July 6, 2000. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 2003. 249-344.
-/

namespace Bugeaud01

/--
Problem 10.1. Are there a transcendental number $\alpha$ and a positive real
number $\xi$ such that $\lVert \xi \alpha^n \rVert$ tends to~$0$ as~$n$ tends to infinity? [Har19]
(Trivial for $|\alpha| < 1$)
-/
@[category research open, AMS 11]
theorem problem_10_1 : answer(sorry) ↔
    ∃ (α ξ : ℝ), 1 < |α| ∧ Transcendental ℚ α ∧ 0 < ξ ∧
      Filter.Tendsto (fun n : ℕ ↦ distToNearestInt (ξ * α ^ n)) Filter.atTop (nhds 0) := by
  sorry

/--
Problem 10.2. To prove that $\lVert e^n \rVert$ does not tend to 0 as n tends to
infinity.
-/
@[category research open, AMS 11]
theorem problem_10_2 :
    ¬ Filter.Tendsto (fun n : ℕ ↦ distToNearestInt (Real.exp n)) Filter.atTop (nhds 0) := by
  sorry

/--
Problem 10.3. To prove that there exists a positive real number~$c$ such
that $\lVert e^n \rVert > e^{−cn}$, for every~$n \ge 1$. Posed by Mahler [Mah53].
-/
@[category research open, AMS 11]
theorem problem_10_3 :
    ∃ c : ℝ, 0 < c ∧ ∀ n : ℕ, 1 ≤ n → Real.exp (-c * n) < distToNearestInt (Real.exp n) := by
  sorry

/--
Waldschmidt [Wal03] conjectured that a stronger result holds, namely
that there exists a positive real number~$c$ such that $\lVert e^n \rVert > n^{-c}$ for
every~$n \ge 2$. This is supported by metrical results [Kok45].

Note: the bound $n^{-c}$ equals $1$ when $n = 1$ for all $c$, while the distance to the nearest
integer is always at most $1/2$, so the conjecture must start at $n \ge 2$.
-/
@[category research open, AMS 11]
theorem waldschmidt :
    ∃ c : ℝ, 0 < c ∧ ∀ n : ℕ, 2 ≤ n → (n : ℝ) ^ (-c) < distToNearestInt (Real.exp n) := by
  sorry

/--
Waldschmidt's conjecture is stronger than Mahler's: since $\log n \le n$ for $n \ge 1$,
the polynomial lower bound $n^{-c}$ dominates the exponential lower bound $e^{-cn}$.
For the $n = 1$ case (not covered by Waldschmidt's $n \ge 2$), we choose a larger constant
using the numerical bound $\lVert e \rVert = 3 - e > 0$.
-/
@[category test, AMS 11]
theorem problem_10_3_of_waldschmidt (h : type_of% waldschmidt) : type_of% problem_10_3 := by
  obtain ⟨c, hc, hyp⟩ := h
  -- distToNearestInt(e) = |e - 3| = 3 - e > 0
  have hd_pos : 0 < distToNearestInt (Real.exp 1) := by
    simp only [distToNearestInt, Real.round_exp_one_eq_three, Int.cast_ofNat]
    rw [abs_pos]
    linarith [Real.exp_one_lt_three]
  -- Pick c₀ such that exp(-c₀) < distToNearestInt(e); use c' = max c c₀
  set c₀ := -Real.log (distToNearestInt (Real.exp 1)) + 1
  refine ⟨max c c₀, lt_max_of_lt_left hc, fun n hn => ?_⟩
  have hn_pos : (0 : ℝ) < n := by exact_mod_cast hn
  rcases Nat.lt_or_ge n 2 with h2 | h2
  · -- n = 1
    have : n = 1 := by omega
    subst this
    simp only [Nat.cast_one]
    calc Real.exp (-(max c c₀) * 1)
        ≤ Real.exp (-c₀) := by
          apply Real.exp_le_exp.mpr; nlinarith [le_max_right c c₀]
      _ < distToNearestInt (Real.exp 1) := by
          rw [show -c₀ = Real.log (distToNearestInt (Real.exp 1)) - 1 by ring]
          rw [Real.exp_sub, Real.exp_log hd_pos]
          have he : (1 : ℝ) < Real.exp 1 := Real.exp_one_gt_d9.trans' (by norm_num)
          have : 0 < distToNearestInt (Real.exp 1) := hd_pos
          rw [div_lt_iff₀ (Real.exp_pos 1)]
          nlinarith
  · -- n ≥ 2: use Waldschmidt
    calc Real.exp (-(max c c₀) * n)
        ≤ Real.exp (-c * n) := by
          apply Real.exp_le_exp.mpr; nlinarith [le_max_left c c₀]
      _ ≤ (n : ℝ) ^ (-c) := by
          rw [Real.rpow_def_of_pos hn_pos]
          exact Real.exp_le_exp.mpr (by nlinarith [Real.log_le_self hn_pos.le])
      _ < distToNearestInt (Real.exp n) := hyp n h2

end Bugeaud01

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Background

Source snapshot inspected on 10 September 2026. Subsequent research status and the accuracy of source formalizations have not been independently certified.

Fixed commit b82b08faa9006484021c12005ab41287fb2ffb69. This file contains 4 source-labeled research-open declarations. Other declarations in the attached file can be definitions, solved results or tests. The file is preserved as source material; it has not been compiled or proved by this import.

Copyright The Formal Conjectures Authors. Code: Apache-2.0; other original material: CC BY 4.0. Third-party sources retain their own licenses. Original source files and notices preserved.

References
  1. [1]Formal Conjectures — Bugeaud Collection of Conjectures and Open Questions: Fractional Parts of Powers link
  2. [2]Original reference cited in the formalization link

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