A note on Diophantine approximation (Q5921640)

Let \(C[a, b]\) be the space with supremum norm of continuous functions on the real interval \([a, b]\). \textit{E. Hewitt} and \textit{H. S. Zuckerman} [see Duke Math. J. 26, 305--324 (1959; Zbl 0087.05802)] have studied the topologial nature of the additive subgroup \(\mathbb{Z}[x]\) of \(C[a, b]\). They proved that \(\mathbb{Z}[x]\) is a discrete subgroup in \(C[a, b]\) if \(b- a\geq 4\) and that \(4\) is the smallest number with this property. In this paper the existence of a dense subset \(\Delta\) of the interval \([0, 4]\) is shown such that for all \(\alpha\in\Delta\) there exists a subgroup \(X_\alpha\subset\mathbb{Z}[x]\) of infinite rank with the property: \(X_\alpha\) is a discrete subgroup of \(C[0,\beta]\) for all \(\beta\geq\alpha\), but not for any \(\beta\in(0,\alpha)\).