A localized Jarník-Besicovitch theorem (Q626108)

Given \(x\in\mathbb{R}\), let \(\delta_x\) be the supremum of \(\delta>0\) such that \[ \left|x-\frac pq\right|\leq \frac{1}{q^{2\delta}} \] holds for infinitely many pairs \((p,q)\) of coprime integers with \(q>0\). For a fixed \(\delta>0\) let \[ {\mathcal L}_\delta=\{x\in\mathbb{R}:\delta_x\geq\delta\}\qquad\text{and}\qquad \widetilde{\mathcal L}_\delta=\{x\in\mathbb{R}:\delta_x=\delta\}. \] Jarník (1929) and independently Besicovitch (1934) famously proved that \[ \dim{\mathcal L}_\delta=\dim\widetilde{\mathcal L}_\delta=\frac1\delta \] for every \(\delta\geq1\), where `\(\dim\)' denotes Hausdorff dimension. This fundamental result has led to numerous developments. The paper under review contains yet another interesting generalisation of the Jarník-Besicovitch theorem in the following direction. \textbf{Theorem:} Let \(f:\mathbb{R}\to[1,+\infty)\) be a continuous function, \[ {\mathcal L}(f)=\{x\in\mathbb{R}:\delta_x\geq f(x)\}\qquad\text{and}\qquad \widetilde{\mathcal L}(f)=\{x\in\mathbb{R}:\delta_x=f(x)\}. \] Then the sets \({\mathcal L}(f)\) and \(\widetilde {\mathcal L}(f)\) are dense in \(\mathbb{R}\), and we have \[ \dim{\mathcal L}(f)=\dim\widetilde{\mathcal L}(f)=\frac1{\min\{f(x):x\in\mathbb{R}\}}. \] The paper also contains various generalisations of this result, a discussion of its various consequences and some open questions. The `min' in the statement of the theorem should likely be interpreted as `infimum' in order to be able to make a conclusion in the case when \(f\) does not attain its `minimum'.