Prime Numbers and the Convergents of a Continued Fraction

Cahlen Humphreys and Dr. Liljana Babinkostova

Boise State University
Introduction
Continued fractions offer a concrete represen-
tation for arbitrary real numbers. The continued
fraction expansion of a real number is an alter-
native to the representation of such a number
as a possibly innite decimal. They are impor-
tant in many branches in mathematics in addi-
tion to many real world applictions specically
with regard to information security. Contin-
ued fractions have been used to exploit weak-
nesses in the RSA algorithm. They have also
been used to speed up the process of factoring
large numbers, which is the heart of security
for many cryptosystems. Since ancient times
they played an important role in the approxima-
tion to real numbers by rational numbers, using
convergents.
= a0 +
b1
a1 +
b2
a2 +
b3
a3 +
b4
a4 +
b5
a5 +
b6
a6 +
b7
a7 +
b8
. . .
Figure 1: Expansion of
We focus on irrational numbers that can be ex-
panded into an innite continued fraction and
can be represented in the compact notation
= [a0, a1, a2, a3, . . . ] where all ai are termed
partial quotients. All ai are positive numbers
with the exception of a0 which can be posi-
tive, negative, or zero [2]. This expression is
known as a continued fraction, and this is its
most basic form. The numbers a1, a2, a3, . . . and
b1, b2, b3, . . . may be real numbers or complex
numbers. The epxression [a0, a1, a2, . . . , ak] =
Ak/Bk, for some xed k > 0, is called the kth
convergent of the irrational number . Our re-
search focues on the primality of Ak and Bk.
Motivation
It has been shown that for almost all irrational numbers, the greatest prime factor of the denominator
of the nth convergent increases rapidly with n [1].
Theoretical Results
Denition
Given an integer k Z{0}, we denote G(k)
as the greatest prime factor of k. For a given
integer x we dene the set
T =
_
_
_
k x : G(k) exp
_
_
ln k
20(ln (ln k))
_
_
_
_
_
.
Lemma 1 [1]
Let x be a positive integer and let A be the
set of all k T, such that there exists r N
where r
2
(ln x)
10
and r
2
|k. Then A has at
most

r(ln x)
5
x
r
2
= O
_
_
x
(ln x)
5
_
_
many elements.
Lemma 2 [1]
Let x be a positive integer and let B be the
set of all k T A, such that k

x. Then
B has at most
(ln x)
5

kx
d(k) = O
_
_
x
(ln x)
4
_
_
many elements.
Lemma 3 [1]
Let x be a positive integer and let C be the
set of all k T (A B), where k <

x.
Then C has at most
O
_
_
x
(ln x)
5
_
_
+ O
_
_
x
(ln x)
4
_
_
+

x = O
_
_
x
(ln x)
4
_
_
many elements.
Theorem [1]
Let S be the set of all positive integers k for which
k , G(k) exp
_
_
ln k
20(ln (ln k))
_
_
then for all > 0

kS
1
k
= O
_
(ln )
3
_
.
Conjectures
For almost all irrational numbers, the primality of the numerator Ak of the kth convergent
[a0, a1, a2, . . . , ak] increases rapidly as k .
For the irrational number e, the number of convergents that have both a prime numerator (Ak)
and a prime denominator (Bk) will stay relatively the same as k .
Figure 2: Prime Numerators of 234 e as the nth
convergent approaches .
Figure 3: Number of convergents of e with both prime
numerator and denominator as n .
References
[1] P. Erdos and K. Mahler, Some Arithmetical
Properties of the Convergents of a Continued
Fraction, J. London Math Soc. (1939) 14:12-18.
[2] C.D. Olds, Continued Fractions, Random House
1963, 1-160.
Acknowledgements
The Department of Mathematics and the Student Re-
search Initiative Program at Boise State University.