Metric results on the approximation of zero by linear combinations of independent and of dependent rationals (Q1382650)

The author derives rational analoga to classical metric results from the theory of diophantine approximation. More precisely, the asymptotic behaviour of expressions of the following type is studied: \[ \begin{multlined} \lim_{m\to\infty} {1\over \bigl| P_s(m) \bigr|} \Bigl| \Bigl\{(x_1, \dots, x_s) \in P_s(m): \Bigl\| a_1 {x_1\over m} +\cdots +a_s {x_s \over m} \Bigr\|_m\geq \psi(a_1, \dots, a_s,m)\\ \text{for all }- {m\over 2} <a_1, \ldots, a_s\leq {m\over 2}; \quad\text{with }(a_1, \dots, a_s)\neq (0,\dots, 0)\Bigr\} \Bigr|, \end{multlined} \] where \(P_s(m)\) is a certain subset of \(\{1, \dots, m\}^s\), \(\psi\) is a nonnegative function, and \(\| \cdot \|_m\) means the maximum of \({1\over m}\) and the distance to the nearest integer. In dimension one an analogous result to the classical approximation theorem of Khintchine is shown. In higher dimensions the results partly depend on the validity of the generalized Riemann hypothesis. The proofs are based on character sum estimates. Some of the investigations are motivated by problems in the theory of uniform distribution and by methods used in the analysis of pseudorandom number generators.