Dense signed sums of non-integer powers

Abstract

We prove that if $j>0$ is not an integer, then there is a choice of signs $\varepsilon_k\in\{\pm1\}$ such that the partial sums $ \sum_{k=1}^{N}\varepsilon_k k^j $ are dense in $\mathbb R$. The proof groups consecutive terms into Thue--Morse blocks, whose Prouhet--Tarry--Escott cancellation produces nonzero block sums tending to zero but with divergent total variation. A standard steering argument then chooses block signs so that the resulting partial sums visit arbitrarily small neighbourhoods of every real number.