Zero's of exponential sums and best Diophantine approximations (Q1086453)

We show that the location of the mth zero of the exponential sum \(g(z;\beta)=e^{-z}+e^{-\beta z}-2,\) \(0\leq \beta \leq 1\) depends monotonically on the Diophantine distance \(\delta n=\min_{p\in Z}| m\beta -p|\) of the parameter \(\beta\). The approach of the zero's of the above function to the imaginary axis is determined therefore by the best Diophantine approximation denominators \(q_ n\) of \(\beta\).