On the \(t\)-adic Littlewood conjecture (Q821485)

Denote by \(|x|\) the usual absolute value of a real number \(x\), and denote by \(|\langle x\rangle|\) the distance from a real number \(x\) to the nearest integer. The famous Littlewood conjecture states that for any two real numbers \(\alpha\) and \(\beta\), the equation \(\inf_{|m|\ge 1}|m|\cdot|\langle{m\alpha}\rangle|\cdot|\langle{m\beta}\rangle|=0\) holds. The \(p\)-adic Littlewood conjecture due to \textit{B. de Mathan} and \textit{O. Teulié} [Monatsh. Math. 143, no. 3, 229--245 (2004; Zbl 1162.11361)] asserts that for any prime number \(p\) and any real number \(\alpha\), the equation \(\inf_{|m|\ge 1}|m|\cdot|m|_p\cdot|\langle{m\alpha}\rangle|=0\) holds. Here \(|m|_p\) is its \(p\)-adic absolute value. Denote by \(\mathbb K[t]\) the ring of polynomials with coefficients in a field \(\mathbb K\), and denote by \(\mathbb K((t^{-1}))\) the field of formal Laurent series. The Littlewood conjecture over function fields (LCFF), due to \textit{H. Davenport} and \textit{D. J. Lewis} [Mich. Math. J. 10, 157--160 (1963; Zbl 0107.04202)] is stated that for any \(\Theta\) and \(\Phi\) in \(\mathbb K((t^{-1}))\), the equation \(\inf_{N\ne 0}|N|\cdot|\langle{m\Theta}\rangle|\cdot|\langle{m\Phi}\rangle|=0\) holds. Here the infimum is taken over all nonzero elements in \(\mathbb K[t]\). The analogue over function fields of the \(p\)-adic Littlewood conjecture, which is called the \(t\)-adic Littlewood conjecture (\(t\)-\(LC\)), due to de Mathan and Teulie is stated that for any \(\Theta\) in \(\mathbb K((t^{-1}))\), the equation \(\inf_{N\ne 0,k\ge 0}|N|\cdot|\langle N t^k\Theta\rangle|=0\) holds. In the case of LCFF, Davenport and Lewis established that the set of exceptions is never empty when the ground field \(\mathbb K\) is infinite. Their work was complemented by that of \textit{A. Baker} [Mich. Math. J. 11, 247--250 (1964; Zbl 0218.10052)] and several other authors (see, e.g., [\textit{R. T. Bumby}, Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 18, 1125--1127 (1967; Zbl 0178.04701); \textit{T. W. Cusick}, Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 18, 920--924 (1967; Zbl 0159.06901); \textit{T. Komatsu}, Kodai Math. J. 14, No. 3, 335--340 (1991; Zbl 0756.11017)]) who provided explicit counterexamples in this case. In the case of \(t\)-LC, de Mathan and Teulié established that the conjecture fails when \(\mathbb K\) is infinite. \textit{Y. Bugeaud} and \textit{B. de Mathan} [AIP Conf. Proc. 976, 19--30 (2008; Zbl 1147.11035)] provided explicit counterexamples in this case. This paper is concerned with the much more difficult case when \(\mathbb K\) is finite. More precisely, a fully explicit counterexample is provided to show that \(t\)-LC fails in the case that \(\mathbb K\) is a finite field with characteristic \(3\). It provides an explicit counterexample defined from the paperfolding sequence. Generalizations to fields with characteristic other than \(3\) are also discussed. One conjecture about the paperfolding and Pagoda sequences is posed after checking by the computer. If this conjecture is true, then the \(t\)-adic Littlewood conjecture fails at least over any field with characteristic a prime congruent to \(3\) modulo \(4\). The proof is computer-assisted. It reduces to showing that an infinite matrix encoding Hankel determinants of the paperfolding sequence over \(\mathbb F_3\), the so-called number wall of this sequence, can be obtained as a \(2\)-dimensional automatic tiling satisfying a finite number of suitable local constraints.