Euler-Lehmer constants and a conjecture of Erdős (Q710502): Difference between revisions

For integers \(q\geq 2\) and \(1\leq a<q\) the Euler-Lehmer constants \(\gamma(a,q)\) are defined by \[ \lim_{x\to\infty}\Bigl(\sum_{n\leq x\atop n\equiv a \pmod q}\frac{1}{n}-\frac{\log x}{q}\Bigr). \] One can prove that \(\gamma(2,4)=\frac{\gamma}{4}\), where \(\gamma\) is the Euler-Mascheroni constant. The authors show that at most one of the numbers \(\gamma(a,q)\), with \(q\geq 2\) and \(1\leq a<q\), is an algebraic number. The authors also partially solve the following conjecture of Erdős. If \(f: \mathbb Z/q\mathbb Z\to\mathbb Q\) satisfies \(f(a)=\pm 1\) and \(f(q)=0\) then \(\sum_{n=1}^\infty\frac{f(n)}{n}\neq0\). The conjecture is shown to be true for \(q\equiv 3 \pmod 4\). The method used in the proof is also used in the proof of the following theorem on the Euler gamma function \(\Gamma(x)\). As \(x\) ranges over all rational numbers \(0<x\leq 1\), at least one of \(\Gamma(x)\), \(\Gamma'(x)\) is transcendental, with at most one possible exceptional \(x\).