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Absolutely Abnormal Numbers

2000/06/30 by Greg Martin
Mathematics · #math.NT #msc:11K16

paper · pdf

published as Amer. Math. Monthly 108 (2001), no. 8, 746-754. · 9 pages. The details of the main construction have changed somewhat, though the method of proof is the same. The paper has been expanded a bit for clarity and completeness

arxiv created 2000/11/17 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30

Abstract

Despite the fact that almost all real numbers are absolutely normal---that is, the digits in their expansions to any base occur in all possible configurations with the expected frequency---not one specific example of an absolutely normal number is known. In this note we investigate the opposite extreme, numbers that are normal to no base whatsoever, and we succeed in writing down explicitly such a number.

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