Diophantine properties of measures and homogeneous dynamics (Q930804)

This well-written survey paper is concerned with the developments initiated by the work of the author of the paper under review and \textit{G. A. Margulis} [Ann. Math. (2) 148, No. 1, 339--360 (1998; Zbl 0922.11061)], which provided a proof of Sprindzhuk's Extremality Conjectures using a dynamical framework. The author studies Diophantine approximation in the case of a single linear form. Briefly, a vector \((y_1, \dots, y_n) \in {\mathbb R}^n\) is said to be \(v\)-approximable if the inequality \[ | y_1 q_1 + \cdots + y_n q_n - p| < \|{\mathbf q}\|^{-v} \] has infinitely many solutions \((q_1, \dots, q_n) \in {\mathbb Z}^n\), \(p \in {\mathbb Z}\). The Diophantine exponent \(\omega({\mathbf y})\) of a vector \({\mathbf y} \in {\mathbb R}^n\) is the supremum over all \(v > 0\) for which \({\mathbf y}\) is \(v\)-approximable. Finally, the Diophantine exponent of a measure \(\mu\) on \({\mathbb R}^n\) is the \(\mu\)-essential supremum of the function \({\mathbf y} \mapsto \omega({\mathbf y})\). A measure \(\mu\) is called extremal if \(\omega(\mu) = n\), which is the smallest possible value by a theorem of Dirichlet. The notion of extremality of a measure is interpreted in terms of homogeneous dynamics, and a criterion giving an upper bound on the Diophantine exponent of a measure is derived. It is described how this interpretation was used in the proof of Sprindzhuk's Extremality Conjectures. In the final section, several extensions of the approach to other measures and related problems are discussed.