Tweaking the Beukers integrals in search of more miraculous irrationality proofs a la Apéry

Abstract: There are only aleph-zero rational numbers, while there are 2 to the power aleph-zero real numbers. Hence the probability that a randomly chosen real number would be rational is 0. Yet proving rigorously that any specific, natural, real constant, is irrational is usually very hard, witness that there are still no proofs of the irrationality of the Euler-Mascheroni constant, the Catalan constant, or Zeta(5). Inspired by Frits Beukers' elegant rendition of Apery's seminal proofs of the irrationality of Zeta(2) and Zeta(3), and heavily using algorithmic proof theory, we systematically searched for other similar integrals, that lead to irrationality proofs. We found quite a few candidates for such proofs, including the square-root of Pi times Gamma(7/3)/Gamma(-1/6) and Gamma(19/6)/Gamma(8/3) divided by the square-root of Pi.

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The authors present a general strategy of a computer assisted proof of irrationality of numbers in the form \[C=\int_0^1 K(x)\,\mathrm dx\] for some function~\(K\). For another function~\(S\) the authors introduce the sequence of numbers \[I(n)=\int_0^1 K(x)\bigl(x(1-x)S(x)\bigr)^n\,\mathrm dx\] (Similarly for multidimensional integrals.) In some cases it might happen that there are polynomials~\(p_i(n)\) such that the sequence~\(I(n)\) satisfies the recurrence relation \[\sum_{i=0}^L p_i(n)I(n+i)=0.\] It can then happen that \[I(n)=b_n C - a_n\] for some sequences of rational numbers~\(a_n\), \(b_n\) with a suitable asymptotic behaviour which then implies that the number~\(C\) is irrational. In this paper, the authors generate examples of some numbers such that the above mentioned cases occur. For instance they prove the irrationality of \(\frac{\sqrt{\pi}\Gamma(7/3)}{\Gamma(-1/6)}\) or \(\frac{\sqrt{\pi}\Gamma(8/3)}{\Gamma(19/6)}\).

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