On certain series with irrational values. (Q769262): Difference between revisions

Let \(p_n\) be the \(n\)th prime. The author states that he has proved the irrationality of the series \(\sum_{n=1}^\infty {p_n^k \over n!}\) \((k=1,2,3,...)\), and he gives the proof for \(k=1\). It is based on the fact that the numbers \(p_n/n-[p_n/n]\) lie dense in \((0,1)\). More generally, let \(\{q_n \}\) be a sequence of integers such that \(1 < q_1 \leq q_2 \leq q_3 \leq \cdots\), \(q_n > c n/(\log n)^k\) (\(c>0\), \(k>0\) constants). Then he shows that \[ \sum_{n=1}^\infty {p_n \over q_1q_2\cdots q_n} \] is irrational unless \(q_n=qp_n+1\) for \(n\geq n_0\), where \(q \geq 1\) is an integer. This result can be further improved.