On the derivative of the Minkowski question-mark function

Abstract

The Minkowski question-mark function $?(x)$ is a continuous strictly increasing function defined on $[0,1]$ interval. It is well known fact that the derivative of this function, if exists, can take only two values: $0$ and $+\infty$. It is also known that the value of the derivative $?'(x)$ at the point $x=[0;a_1,a_2,\ldots,a_t,\ldots]$ is connected with the limit behavior of the arithmetic mean $(a_1+a_2+\ldots+a_t)/t$. Particularly, N. Moshchevitin and A. Dushistova showed that if $a_1+a_2+\ldots+a_t<κ_1 t$, where $κ_1 = 2\log\bigl({\frac{1+\sqrt{5}}{2}}\bigr)/\log{2}= 1.3884\ldots$, then $?'(x)=+\infty$. They also proved that the constant $κ_1$ is non-improvable. We consider a dual problem: how small can be the quantity $a_1+a_2+\ldots+a_t-κ_1 t$ if $?'(x)=0$? We obtain the non-improvable estimates of this quantity.