(a) State Liouville's theorem on the approximation of algebraic numbers by rationals.
(b) Let (an)n=0∞ be a sequence of positive integers and let
α=a0+a1+a2+a3+…111
be the value of the associated continued fraction.
(i) Prove that the nth convergent pn/qn satisfies
∣∣∣∣∣α−qnpn∣∣∣∣∣⩽∣∣∣∣∣α−qp∣∣∣∣∣
for all the rational numbers qp such that 0<q⩽qn.
(ii) Show that if the sequence (an) is bounded, then one can choose c>0 (depending only on α ), so that for every rational number ba,
∣∣∣∣α−ba∣∣∣∣>b2c
(iii) Show that if the sequence (an) is unbounded, then for each c>0 there exist infinitely many rational numbers ba such that
∣∣∣∣α−ba∣∣∣∣<b2c
[You may assume without proof the relation
(pn+1qn+1pnqn)=(pnqnpn−1qn+1)(an+1110),n=1,2,….]