Metric discrepancy results for alternating geometric progressions (Q2377336)

It is well known that lacunary systems exhibit properties which are typical for systems of i.i.d. random variables. A celebrated result is the law of the iterated logarithm (LIL) for the discrepancy of fractional parts \((\{n_k x\})_{k \geq 1}\), established by \textit{W. Philipp} [Acta Arith. 26, 241--251 (1975; Zbl 0263.10020)]. In the case \(n_k = \theta^k, k \geq 1\), the precise values of the limsup in the LIL for almost all \(x\) have been established by the author for a large class of numbers \(\theta>1\), see [Acta Math. Hung. 118, No. 1--2, 155--170 (2008; Zbl 1241.11090)]. In particular, when \(\theta\) has no powers which are rational, then the limsup equals 1/2 a.e., which is in perfect accordance with the Chung-Smirnov LIL for i.i.d. random systems. In the present paper, the author proves similar results in the case \(n_k = \theta^k\) for \(\theta < -1\). There are some interesting deviations from the results in the case \(\theta>1\), and also some ``irregular'' behavior occurs.