Journal of Integer Sequences, Vol. 29 (2026), Article 26.3.4

A Counterexample to a Purported Construction of Normal Numbers


John M. Campbell
Department of Mathematics and Statistics
Dalhousie University
Halifax, NS B3H 4R2
Canada

Abstract:

Pollack and Vandehey noted that a purported construction of normal numbers given by Szüsz and Volkmann requires an additional condition. As we demonstrate, not only is this condition required in part of the proof of Szüsz and Volkmann's main result, but their original claim is false. We give an explicit counterexample via a decimal expansion that satisfies the conditions of Szüsz and Volkmann, but is not normal. This counterexample provides a non-normal analogue of the normal number 0.(1)(4)(9)(16)(25) ... considered by Besicovitch.


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(Concerned with sequences A000040 A001191 A033307 A033308 A380904.)


Received January 29 2025; revised versions received February 25 2025; January 12 2026. Published in Journal of Integer Sequences, May 20 2026.


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