Descriptive properties of the type of an irrational number

Abstract

The type $\tau$($\alpha$) of an irrational number $\alpha$ measures the extent to which rational numbers can closely approximate $\alpha$. More precisely, $\tau$($\alpha$) is the infimum over those t$\in$R for which |$\alpha$--h/k|<k^{--t--1} has at most finitely many solutions h,k$\in$Z, k>0. In this paper, we regard the type as a function $\tau$:R\Q$\rightarrow$[1,$\infty$] and explore its descriptive properties. We show that $\tau$ is invariant under the natural action of GL2(Q) on R\Q. We show that $\tau$ is densely onto, and we compute the descriptive complexity of the pre-image of the singletons and of certain intervals. Finally, we show that the function $\tau$ is [1,$\infty$]-upper semi-Baire class 1 complete.