Summing the "exactly one 42" and similar subsums of the harmonic series

Abstract

For $b>1$ and $\alpha\beta$ a string of two digits in base $b$, let $K_1$ be the subsum of the harmonic series with only those integers having exactly one occurrence of $\alpha\beta$. We obtain a theoretical representation of such $K_1$ series which, say for $b=10$, allows computing them all to thousands of digits. This is based on certain specific measures on the unit interval and the use of their Stieltjes transforms at negative integers. Integral identities of a combinatorial nature both explain the relation to the $K_1$ sums and lead to recurrence formulas for the measure moments allowing in the end the straightforward numerical implementation.