Duffin--Schaeffer examples, real residue systems, and Bohr-set primes

Abstract

We prove the following generalization of a well-known result of Duffin and Schaeffer: For any given countable sets $Y \subset\mathbb{R}$ and $Z\subset\mathbb{R}\setminus\operatorname{span}_\mathbb{Q}(\{1\}\cup Y)$, there exist functions $\psi$ such that the set of inhomogeneously $\psi$-approximable numbers has zero measure or full measure, according as the inhomogeneous parameter lies in $Y$ or $Z$. The proof uses an analogue of residue systems where the residues can take arbitrary real values, and it also requires information about the distribution of primes lying in Bohr sets. We extend a theorem of Rogers to the more general real residues setting, and we extend Dirichlet's theorem for prime numbers lying in arithmetic progressions to prime numbers lying in Bohr sets. We also prove that circle rotations equidistribute when sampled along such primes, provided the rotation angle is rationally independent of the Bohr set parameter, generalizing a theorem of Vinogradov. An appendix by Manuel Hauke answers a combinatorial question that is posed in the introduction.