jolll-nal of Con~put;~liim;tl

; ~ n rApplicd
l 11 ( 1'102) 747-26-2
Ll:t~htrn:~ric~ 117
~ , , ~ t lolland
h~l -

Pad6 approximants and Eisenstein-

Ramanujan continued fraction
P. A c h u t h a n
Llcpflrlrr~c~~t
of J\/~II/IC~~II'I~IC.~. 1nclic111/r~.%fil~~Ic
<I/' Tc~c/I/zu/u,~?. ~ I ~ ~ I ~ / I - o s - # UI ~t ~
z ~
~ ,l i ~ ~ V)
4
'4L-
-
i-
d
-
6
J
2
.
!b
bl
S. Ponnus\vamv 3
I)r.purr~?zrrrtu ] ' : J l r r ~ ~ ~ ~ ~A.C.
~ ~ ~Col1eb.t.
o t ~ r s .oj'fi.-~~&!i~rrc'ri~lg n ~ ~Tr~t . c . k r u l ~ ~Airrarkrrdi-623004
.~~?. lr~llicc
h b

Rcceivcd ZO ;\clgusl 19x7

Kcvibcd I Ao.u\t 199 I
. .
- .. ,
, . -
~.
.
,.., - .
r' .--
. . -
--
.
.-
,4b~trilc1 . - - - -,
. I .
... i
Achuthan, P. and S . Ponnuwi;l~~!y.P ~ d~pproximunts
i and ~i>cnstcin-l<:tm:;nu&n c6nt~nuedTra~cti0n.-Janmf
o f Computstion;tI : ~ n dApplicd .Sl;~thernalics41 (1992) 2.17-264.
A corresponding ~ y p ccontinucd frtction exp;~nsionfor Eiscnstcin-Ramanujnn series is considcrcd and certain
contraction forms o l this conrinucd fraction arc probidud. Thc ~clcvitntcwlvcrgcnls arc rc:~lircdas dircct Pad:
appro~irnnntband thcir block structure i n thc P;111i lahlc is studied. Further. ir is show11 that thc rcsultins
scqucocc o f convcrgents provides an clficient tool for :inalyzing the nnrur:ll boundary o f thc ahovc icrics. A
new inrcrprcration is pivcn In thosc convcrecnts which arc a such no1 anv o f the Pad6 approximants. but i n
lac1 they arc actuallv identified as partial Padf ~pproximonrsin vicw of thcir order of cont:tcl with thc orieinal
series.

Art,?tr.ord~: Pad6 approsim;tnts: Pad6 rablc: continucd fractions

1. Introduction

Continued fractions and Pad6 approximants have been the subject of much recent interest in
m a n y fields of applications. Thcre is a close connection between these two, since the convcr-
gcnts of ccrtain types of continued fractions happen to bc Pad6 approximants. For full details
of continucd fractions. heir correspondence propertics and thc relationship with Pad6 approxi-
mants, see, for rramplc. [3.4.6.7.lO.l4]. Hnwever, for the sake of completeness wc shall first
state sonic fundamentals.

(0:Dr. P. Achuthan. Department o f M;tthcrn:ttics. Indian Institute o f Technology, Madras-600036.

Correspotzde~~cu
India.

0377-0127/92/S05.00 D 1992 - Elsevtcr Scic~tccPublishers B.V. A l l righls rc\cwcd

 The norn~iil[m/n] Pad6 approximan1 oP thc formal powcr series
~.
m

f(z) = C c,zi. c,, =+0.

i=O
is a rational function

such that
~(Z)Q,".,,(Z,- f',","(~, = O ( Z ' " + ~ + I )? (1.3)
where O ( z k )denotes a powcr series in ascending powers of z beginning with a term in z".
W e denote a continued fraction C by

where a,, and b, are functions of a (complex) variable z . Let

bc its nth convergent. Both P,, and Q , satisfy thc recurrence relation
unyb,,q,-1 +a,U,,-2, n = 2 . 3, ..., (1.5)
with P , = O , P , = a , , Q , , = l , Q , = b , .
This paper is devoted to the study of the Eisenstein-Ramanujan continued fraction. which
has the following form:

Here, a,, = -Z 2 n - ~ a,"+ I = -(ZZn z n-- - z n ( 2 " - l ) , b , = l .

In [8], it has bcen shown that for 1 z 1 < 1, this continued fraction equals the continued
product
r =
n(l+Zn)(l-Z?~l)= Czn(n+l)/2
(1.7)
n= l n -0

T h e general form of (1.6) was given by Ramanujan [16]. He suggested the identity
1 - az + aZZ" a3z6+ a 4 z 1 0 - . . .

(1.8)
This, in fact, is a special case of a general continued fraction of Rarnanujan, namelv
which has been discussed in detail in [?.I I]. In [5] a number of special cases of (1.9) is
considered, among which (1.6). Here we study the continued fraction (1.6) and its powcr scries
expansion (1.7) from the point of vicw of Pad6 approximants.
The first four convergents of (1.6) are

- -
1' I-z> 1-2' ' 1 -t'-z.> +z"
prom the deprecs of the fraction and frurn thc power series cxp;~nsionit follows that

For thc fourth convergent, thcre is a simplification possible:

This occurs in all the convergcnts for tl 3 4. bccause

It is thus natural for us to try to expand E ( z ) into a corresponding type continued fraction
(C-fraction) so that its convergcnts are generally Pad6 approximants. Moreover, onc of the
important properties of the C-fraction happens to hc that its cnnvcrgcnts are irreducible 118,
p.33 I].
Section 2 deals with the expansion of E(i)into a C-fraction and an immediate itlcntification
of its convergcnts as Pad6 approximants. Nearly one-third of the convcrgents as such are not
Pad6 approximants according to the customary definition, but they are only partial Pad6
approximants in thc scnse that their order of contact with the original series is less than that of
normal approximants. Somc of the contraction forms of the derived C-fraction are examined in
Section 3 and the natural boundary of E( z ) is considered in Section 4. The block structure of
convergents in the Pad6 tablc is studied in Scction 5.

2. C-fraction expansion of E i t )

The C-fractions were first introduced by Leighton and Scott [15]. These authors proved that
every power serics can have a unique C-fraction expansion. Scott and Wall [18] considercd the
relationship of C-fractions with the Pad; table. They crilled the C-fraction and its power scrics
reg~rlnr in case all of the convergcnts qualifv to be Pad2 approximants. Frank [9] further
enriched this kind of investigations and gave an elegant algorith~nfor expanding an arbitrary
power series into a C-fraction. She also refi>rmulated the earlier results for a class of regular
C-fractions. Thc notion of a-regularity was introduced to characterize the regular C-fractions
in terms of geometrical properties of the Pi1d6 table.
Using the algorithm given in [Y] we may expand fi(:) into a C-fraction:

In view of the rclation (l.j), the computed convergcnts of (2.1) are

The denominators of the convcrgents are given explicitly by

Ql = 1, Q2=1-2, Q; = 1.

Also it can be shown that

From the degrees of the convcrgents and from the expansions. it follows that
 P, P,. I +:-z'
A=-=
, = 1 4-2 + z 3 + 0 ( z 5 )= 12/21>
Qs Q2.2 I -z-

no Pad6 approximant.

PI,, P,, 1 +2z+?z'+3z'+zJ-2'-z7

--
--=

Q1o Q7.6
- -
1+-+-?+z'-zJ-zS--h - -1 +=+z3+z~+Zln+0(z~3):

no Pad6 approximant.

In general, from thc power series expansions. it can be vcrified that

p7,
- -+ I e"" - 1 +: +z3+zh + . .. +zll-IH~+:1/2 +O(Z'"'"), i = 2 , 3 , 3 ,... :
QA,
+I Qt~,.,,
no Pad6 approximant. (7.5)
where
2m ='i + i + 2, ti = 2 i , by (2.3) and (2.4).
We obsenrc that the convergcnts given by (2.2) arc not as such all Pad6 approximants. For
example, the 7th, 10th. 13th.. . . order convcrgcnts are not Pad6 approximants. Though strictly
not Pad6 fractions, they are still rcsponsiblc for gcncrating the subsCqucnt convcrgents which
are really Pad6 approximants. Therefore, therc is sufficient reason to believe that these
convergcnts ought to be Pad6 fractions though undcr certain weak conditions. In view of (1.3)
and (2.5). cach of these convergcnts satisfies the identity

T o be normal Pad6 approximants, each convergent should fit one more term of the series.
Therefore, these rational functions may be termed as Ali?~ostPude' Approximatlts (APAs). The
continued fraction (2.1) is a rare example in the class of C-fractions because non-Pad6
convcrgents occur periodically (see (2.5)). Identifying (2.1) with the most general C-fraction

we see that cach of its convcrgents satisfics thc identities

Let p,, and r l , bc the degrees of P , , ( i ) nnd Q,,(z ), rcbpccrively. If P,,(z )/Q,,(
z ) is a norm:
Pad6 fraction, thcn
0 ,+ a 2 + ... +a,+,>p,, +q,. (?.lo
In the case of non-Pad6 convcrgenrs considered here, the above inequality becomes an equalit:
by virtue of (2.6). Let

cn - I
... c,, - ,,,
.

...
c,l C,, - ,,,+ I
. c, = 0. for k < 0.
C,,+,,-1 C,,*,,,-2
... C,,- 1 -

Equation (1.3) can thcn be expressed [9, p.931 in the form

RR.,,+lQ = 0. RP+L.oQ= P . (2.12)
In thc case of APAs we see that the first of the above relations is not satisfied. The exact
positions of convergents in the Pad6 table and their block formations are as shown in Fig. 1. A
few of the interesting aspects of these are discussed in Secrion 5.

3. Some explicit contraction forms of conlinued fractions

We have observed that the 7th, 10th. 13th.. . . order convergents of (2.1) arc not really Pad6
approximants. Let us contract (2.1) in such a way that all its convergents arc perfectly Pad6
fractions. So our aim is now to construct a new continued fraction. called the rwo-lhird part of
(2.11, in order to exclude the 1st. 4th, 7th. 10th. 13th.. .. order convcrgents of it. For this
purpose, to start with. we take rhe general continued fraction

whose nth convergent PJQ, is given by

where P - , = 1, Q - , = 0: Po = b,, Q, = 1. Let T,),T , , T:,. .. be the convergents of the two-third

 Fig. 1 . Block structure for convergents of the C-fraction(2.1).

part of (3.1). T h e elements of the sequence (P,,+,/Q,,,,,)",re not members of the requircd
two-third part. Then clearly
p3,, - I P,,,
T 2 n - l= -, T,, = -, n=0,1.2..
Q3"- I Q3n

By (3.2) we have
P3,, = b3,,P3,,- I + a3,, P3,, - 2 ,
P3,,-1 = b ; , , - 1 P 3 . - 2 +~3,-1P3,-3,

P3rr-2 = b;n-2P3n-3 + a3,t-2P3,1-~'

Eliminating P,,,-> from (3.4) we arrive at

Similar expressions hold for the denominators Q also. T h e relationships (3.5)involving P and
similar two relations involving Q connect the numerators and denominators of three succcssivc
convergents of the contracted continued fraction. From (3.5~1)we observe that h3,,-,h,,_, +
U 3 n - l and a,,-,b,,-, are, rcspectively. thc (211 -- 1)th partial denominator and numerator of
the contracted continued fraction. Similarly (3.5b) determines the 2nth partial denominator
and numcmtut. Sillcc P,,/Q,, = h,,, thc pi~rtialnumerators of the rcquircd continued fraction
are

and the partial denominators arc

Thus, after an etl~tivalcncetra~lsformatiorlwe reach thc two-third par1 of (3.1) as

It is obvious that there are two other two-third parts of (3.1). Herr we present thrm fur the
sake of completeness. Proceeding alone similar lines we dcrivc. its al)ove. thc two-third part of
(3.1) lacking i n thc scquence (P5,,/Q3,,)as

T h e two-third part of (3.1) lacking on the scquence (P3,,+,/Q,,,+Z); i s

Then, using in (2.1) the formula (3.6) derived above. we obtain

I I + ++ +...
I-.? l +z 1-2 1+z
The nature of construction of (3.8) ensures that all the convergcnts are Pad6 approsirnants.
Applying the forn~ulae(3.7) and (3.7~1)we get two uthcr two-third parts of (7.1) as

and

Each of the above contracted forms of (2.1) has some interesting regularity slructure built into
the elements so that the general term can be written down rather quickly. We can contract
rurther the above set of continued fractions. Applyins thc cvcn part and odd part contraction
~ ~ r n i u l ngiven
c in [Id] to each of tlie forms (3.8)-(310). wc g c ~:~nothcrsct of contracted forms:

The other set of co~itractcdforms is omitted hcre hccausc they tlo :iccommodate non-Pad6
convergcnts also. I n fact thc continued fractions (3.1%) and (3.1%) are cquivalcnt in the sense
that they give rise to the same sequence of convergents. Thc computed convcrgcnrs of (3.1 1)
and (3.12) are given in the next section. They arc. rcspcctivclv. C?,,,,,,
and C ,,,-,
of (2.2). that
is. (3.1 1) and (3.12) are tlie "one-third" of (1.21.

4. Natural boundary of El z)

Thc convergents of (3.12) providc information on the natural boundary of E( z ) . We recall, if

evcly point on the circle of convcrgcncc of a given power serics is a singular point. thcn the
circle of convergence of that serics is its own natural boundary. If, in the power series
f(z) = C a , , z n . a,, = 0. (4.1)
except wllr11 r l belongs to n scqucncc rr,: such that
l + l > ( l + € ) r l , E>0,
then thc circle of convergence of the scrics is a natural boundary of the function [19. Theorem
7.43. p.2231. In tlie case of E( z ) we have

As h -t x , 2 / k -.0. Thcreforc. the gaps in E ( r ) are not large enough to be Hadamard gaps.
Thc Hadamard thcorcm cannot bc applied here. However. the convcrgents of (3.12) give
indication that ( z I = 1 is the natural boundary of E(z). The convergents of (3.12) arc

.
In general. its t ~ t hconvergent f,(z) = <Jz)/Q,,(z) = P,,(z)/(I - Z)Q;(Z) is given by

.
with P ; = PI = 1 and = 1 +z + z' + . . . + z n - I , Q;= 0, Q;= 1, by recurrence (4.3) and
by the induction method. Hence,
We can seck the expansions of f , ( i ) in thc following form:
fl(z)=1+~+z3+:3+...,
fI(z)= 1 +;+:3+~5+z7+~9+ ..-.
f 3 ( z ) = 1 + z + : ~ + ~ ~ + z ~ + z...,
~ ~ + z ~ +
f,(=)= 1 + z + z ' + i h + * ' ( J + i ' ~ + Z ~ S + Z ~ 2 + ... .
f,(z)-. 1 +z z'+z"+i1"+;'5+z"'+z"+ ...

In general.
f,(Z) = 1+ Z +z3 +z6+ .. . +znfn-11/1+Znln+3~/2 + -nln*5jl? + . ..
which can be proved by induction. This implies thar

-
I
1 E ( = )- f , , ( z ) 1 = 1 z ~ n A l U t z + 2 ) / 2+ . . . - , , ~ t ~ r l + ; ) / ? -
z -(m-51/2 - . . . I,< C lz'l
r=n(n+ I)/:

r', where l z l < r < I.

r = n ( n + ll/2

S ~ C'iC-=+ r ' -,0. as P I -,x . f , ( z ) converges uniformly to E ( z ) . as n -,x on every closed

circle, I z I s r < I .
The singulari~icsof a function can be deciphered from its Pad6 approximants [4, p.481. We
see that E ( z ) -t r as z -+ 1 along the real axis so that z = 1 is a singular point of E ( z ) . The
polcs of f,,(z) are the nth roots of unity and they lie on the circle I z 1 = 1; that is, all points of
the form e"'"k)'", where k and t z are integers. arc singular points of f , ( z ) . When n is v e p
large, these points bccorne dcnsz on the unit circle so that every neighbourhood of any other
point on the unit circle must contain at least one of these nth roots of unity. Hcncc no point on
1 z I = 1 is a regular point. That is, I z I = 1 is the natural boundary OF E ( z ) .
Nnw let us see how thc convergcnls of (3.11) also support the above fact. The relevant
convergents are
1 +z 1+2z+z2 1 +2z+7z2+22'-z5
-
1 ' 1+z-z3 ' I tz+z2-zJ-zj '
1 +2z+2z2+3z3+2z-'-z7-z8
1 + z + z ? + , 3 - ~ ~ - z 6 - z ' '
2
1 +2z+2z-+3z'+3z4+2z5i z6-zX-2zy-zIZ
,... .
1 +z+z2+z3+zd-z6-2'-z R -2 9
Let f,,(z) = P , j z ) / Q , , ( z ) bc the 11th convergent of (3.1 I). By making use of the induction
method and with the help of (1.5), we obtain
Q,,(z)=1+z+z2+ ... + z n - ' - Z r i i l -zn+z- .. . - Z 2 n ~
1 -z" (1 - i n - ]
-
_ - -Z't+I )
1-2 1-2
From powcr series expansions. it follows that
f1(z) = 1 +z + z 3 + z h + 0(z7),
f3(z)= 1+ Z + I ~ + ~ ~ + Z ~ ~ + O ( I ~ ~ ) .
f4(z)= 1+ z + z ' + ~ ~ + z ~ ~ ' + : ~ j + o ( Z ~ ~ ) ,

In gcncral,
= 1 + = +z" . . . ++_,+IN"'"/'
o(,nln-j)'2 ) - +

which can bc proved by thc induction method. Thcreforc,

E ( Z )- f , , ( ~ )= o ( ~ ~ 1.' ~ + ~ ) / ~
Also

Z(tr- lW11-1)/2 + z1#!:+3,1-2)/2

f,>-f,,-1 =
0,- IP,,
In proving the uniform convergcnce of f,,(z). we may assume that for each 0 < I- < 1. there is an
intcgcr m ( r ) such that all zeros z of Q,, satisfy I z I > r. If not. for each integer n there exists an
intcgcr nl,, > 11 and a zero z, of Q," such that I I, I < r. Then

that is, I - 2::'- = z;r-+l( 1 -=:--I). Thcrcforc,

0 < ~ < l 1 - ~ ~ ~ Ill l =- - t t ~1 m~ . ~~ -*l /~d ~ r ~ n . +
~ Sl -, +
, +oX~.
As this is impossiblc, our assumption is truc. Also, for 1 z I < r,

1
IznII1+z-znj<-
1-r
r"(l + r + r")
3r"
-+ 0,
d- as tz + 2.
I-r
Hence Q,(z) converges uniformly to 1/(1 - r ) on every closcd circular disc with radius < 1. By
[17, Theorem 10.12, p.2351 and by our assumption. I/Q,,(z) converges uniformly to 1 - z on
evely circular disk with radius < 1. That is, for cvely 6 > 0, there is an integer rdr) such that
1
lm- (1 - Z) < E , whcncvcr I z I < r and 11 > n ( r ) .
In particular.

If we take c = 1, say, for cvcr). 0 < r < 1. therc is an intcecr rr(r) such that I I/Q,,(=)I < 3,
whenever I :1 < r and ?I 2 d r ) . Fix 0 < r < I and 11,. as dcfined above. Then for II r n, + 5 we
have
lf,,(z) -Jn-r(=)l -
< ]8r'"-10W'J'2
< 181-".
2, x x

) - I , - l ( : ) l b ~ ~ z ~ l + oa S,1 1 - I .
,=,, I=,? I = ,
Thus Lf_,,(J,(z) - f,-Jz)) converges uniformlv o n every closed circular disc with radius < 1,
that is.
!?I

J,,,(=) =!I(:) + E ( J , ( = ) -L-,(:))

r-2

converges uniformly on every closcd circular dizc with radius < 1. Since the trrth con\.er_pent
f,,,(=) agrees with E( i ) for the first ~ r r l 0 n+ 5 ) tcrms. f,,(:) converges uniformly to E ( z ) o n
rvcry closed circular disc with radius < 1.
Now lct us look a t the polcs of the convergent5 of (3.11). They are given in Table 1. The
poles are all located closely near the circumference of the unit circle I :I = 1 (see Fig. 2). We
notice that eacli convergent has a rcal positive pole which lies outside the circle. We also
obscrve that exactly half of them lie outside and the othcr half inside the unit circle. When the
clrtlcr of the convcrgents increases. not only the polcu move to\vards the circumference of the
unit circle but also they become dense near to it. This means that I ;I = 1 is the natural
boundary of E ( : ) . This corlclusion is confirmed hy the blocks in rhe Pad6 table of E ( : ) to
which now \\-c turn.

5. Ulock stt.uclure of convergents ill the I'ad6 table

We now consider thc pa~~ticular aspect of blocks formaliol~by the convergents of (2.1). T h e
Pad6 tnblc of the E(z)-series turns out to he no~rnormal. The detailed structul-e of the
nonnornial Pad6 table has already been studied by PJ~L;,who proved the following very useful
theorem [70. p.3941.

Theorem. Let I<( ;) = P(, z)/Q,,,.,$Z ) be nlr [ r ? ~ / r ~Purl6

] uppro-1-irnarrt off( z ), where P,,,,,(
z)
and Q,,,,,(:) +
i ~ r eel-acrly a, a,z + . . . +a,rP nrld b, + b I z + . . . +b4zY, 1-especlh.ely,srrclt tlrnf
tlley l~rrr'e110 zeros in cor?ttnort a r ~ d
fli)Q,,.,(z) -p,,,,,(z) = o ( zP - 4 - r + l 1, r a 0 .
I-ilctr
[p+i/q+j],(z)=R(i), i, j = 0 . I ..... r,
crntf no or11e1-e~lrrr;of rhe Prrcik table of I(=)is ide~rricr~l wirh R.
Tithlc I
p,,]cs of thc fin1S conbcrgcnt5 of (3.1 1): rcbults arc n>undcd off 105 s~t._nilicanliligit\
. .~ . -~~

Odcr [IIII I I ] RL.;I~part Inia:innr\ part \lodulus r

-
7 [1/3] 1 ..?247 I 1i.O 1.324il
- ll.f>f>?~35 i0.56117 II.SOSS3
3 [5/Sl l.l?i73 0.0 1.12373
0.177-0 + 0.Y5167
- O.Sh973
- 0.944 17 -
+ 0.35616 I .OY.595
N/71 1.ob6io 0.0 I .06h:o
- O.SSSY5 -
t0.3U05 O.95hSil
- n.:hxs +I.IIS~I~ 1.14~07
0.21S?X C 0.S5717 O.SSlf>l
[ 12/91 1.0-115: 0.0 1.n4li2
0.42699 I.0.79ShY 0.1105bO
-0.5ibl3 10.72074 0.92975
-0.98135 tO..32OS6 1.03137
0.109-3 zl.l2lSO 1.12715
1.02S50 0.0 I02Sr;l)
-0.94720 -1).219.37 0.9794s
-0.2~~~5 ~0.SSlhl 0.92if>Y
0.36293 50.729SS Cl.'J2176
0.30b30 I l .O.i l')3 I.IlJ5ll
- 0.73753 +0.7hS31 I ,AI65(12
1.010611 0.0 1.020Sll
-0.05759 f0.93011 0.93209
- 0.79-9 -n..FS<hS
- 0.95932
U.h5>Yj 5-U.bb>Ib U.Y.4IJ.3
0.571.3 +O.Y25lS
- I .US746
-0.12Y-13 TU.'JS2Cll 1 .Oi2?i
- 0.WKlh7 r0.27hSU 1.01670
l.ol~s5 0.0 1.Ill5S.i
0. 12.:IlS - 0.9lYS5 0.037Y6
- 0.51W14 I0.777W O.V52f>h
-0.S570l =0.5S.%.31 1.036-0
0.711hS + O..iO7SS 0.9435s
-O.I?947 -c 1.11551iS 1.07003
0.68117 10.61S(Il 1.07352
- 0.9hhV3j -0.IY094 O.')SS 15

Tl~orrghP,,,,, (:)/a ,,,.,i:) is a ~rrliclrrePntlc! fiacriot~.P,,,.,, ( z ) czrltl 0 ,,,,,,(:) irre. in k:.*cwi/. rror
f r . is. i f s is n jirtyi in[e.rer.0 a s a r , rlrrrr crll Pizdi c~l)[)ro.rirtrarrrs.
l i ~ l i i ~ l Tlror wlfrre
tn=p+s. t r = q + s . q + s + 1 ..... q + r
or
t t r = p + s . p + s + 1 ..... p + r . rr = q + s
hill hnre rlre jbrttz
 tY
. Locatton d Poles
I m g l n O r y oxls

Fig. 2. The unit circle I;I = 1 with polcs of the convergents of (3.1)

Q,m,n( z ) - ( b o+ b , z -t - .. +bqz4)GS(z),
G,(r) being art appro print^ polyi~o~nitil of degree s. The pol~r~onziulG,(r) is arbitrary. i~hen
m + 1 1 < p + q + r arrd it is :'C;,-,(:I, ir.Ji~,rr nl +
11 = p + q r +I. +
The above theorem shows that identical Pad6 approximants can occur only in squarc blocks
of the Pa& table. The block (5.2) consistins of ( r + I)' elements is called a blc~clcof order r.
This type of square block structure is seen in other Pad6 tables too [I]. Since the convergents of
C-fraction arc irrrducible, we can very well apply the above theorem here. It is sufficient to
find out the integer r in (5.1) for deciding the order of a block formcd by a particular Pad6
approximant. The integer r is conveniently determined by comparing the power series expan-
sion of P,,,(;)/Q,.,(z) with the original series.
We presel~tbelow a fresh working method for the expansion of a rational function into a
power serics. The expansion of R ( z 1 = P,,,,,(z )/Q,,,,( z ) in a series of positive powers of z is
carried out as follows. Ler

and also
where the cocfficicn~sin (5.4) car1 Lrc cxprcsscd in terms of bigradicnts of (5.3) [12]. For
example. thc coefficient of z"-I is given by
('1~ "111
... "I,.,, - I
0 "64
... lIl).n-2
1

In the process of evaluating the bipradicnt (5.3,not only the cocfficicnt but also all the
coefficients a,, a,,. .. .,n,, are obtained directly. For this, we rewrite (5.5)as

In evaluating the determinant a,,,. its order is reduced successively by expanding it in terms of
the first column aftcr going throueh all appropriate elemcntary' transformations. At each stage
of thc order reduction, the first clemsnts of the last row of thcsc reduced-order dcterminanrs
.
are noted and thcy are the coefficients a , , , a,,,,. . . uno of (5.4). The computation involved in
this process can convcnicntly be displayed in thc form of an array:
"01 "03
.. .
"lo "11 "I? "13
...
"20 "21 "22 "1,
.. .

Thc first hvo rows of the above array arc formed from the coefficients in (4.3) and the elemcnts
of the third, fourth and subsequent rows can he evaluated from the recllrsive relation

If we have the ratio of two infinite series in the place of a proper rational function, the
procedure is slightly different: that is, to get thr, first N terms of the required series we have to
take the first .V temis in each of the infinite scrics and perform the above coniputation. It is
enough to evaluate the triangular array in order to get the required number of coefficienrs.
Since we now know the powcr series expansion of R ( z ) . the relation (5.1)can be retvritten in
an equivalcnt form:
f ( z ) - R ( z ) = O(z p+a-,+I) r a 0 . . ( 5 .S)
Let us idcntily each convergent of a C-criterion tvith R(z) of (5.8).Then R ( z ) has a contact of
order p + q + r with f(z). We shall denote this property hy the notation

The integrr r in (5.8) plays an important role in in\.estigating the block structure of the Pad:
table. For evcry convergent of a C-fraction the integer r exists. I f r = 0, R(:) is callcd a nort?lcrl
 that is, it forms a block of order zero. If r > 0, then R ( z ) is a llonnorlnal
PCKIL;k:~)p~-o.rir~mrir;
Pad6 t~pproximanrwhose block order is r . As we have already seen, somc of the convergcnts of
(2.1) are not Pad6 fractions. Hcnce it is ncccssiiry to relax the condition r 3 0 in (5.8): that is. r
may be negative. If r < 0. then R ( z ) finds no place in the Pad6 tahle. which means that it forms
a block of "negative ordcr". Let us represent the integer r symbolically by
O r d [ ~ ( z ) ]= C [ R ( z ) ]- ( p + q ) . (5.10)
A nonnormal Pad& approximant can in fact be of two types. One is termed srrrplics ( r > 0)
and the other pnrricrl ( r < 0). The non-Pad6 convergent of a C-fraction may bc called Prrrrinl
Putli A ~ ~ p r o ~ r i ~(PPA).
~ ~ o t rThe
t terminology of PPA is not ncw [13]. It is currently being used in
the theory of control systems.
We shall look at thc blocks formed by thc cnnvergrnts of (2.1) in the Pod; table of E ( z ) . By
comparing (1.3) with (2.9) we find that thc integer r, exists such that
p , + q , , + r , + 1 = n , + a 2 + ... + a , + , . r,>O, n = 1 . 2 .... . (5.1 1 )
Let R, denote the block of the 11th converpcnt P , , ( z ) / Q , , ( z ) . Since P,(z)/Q,,(:) is irreducible,
its order is r,,. Then it follows from the Pad6 theorem that P , ( z ) / Q , , ( : ) occupies all the cclls of
the block 8, and occurs nowhere else in the table. T h e positions of the convcrgents in the Pad&
table and thc blocks formed out of them are sho\vn in Fig. 1. Thc convcrpents arrange
thernselvcs to form a zig-zag path. Fur n = 1. we have p , = 0, (1, = 0 so that r, = a , - 1 = 0:

-
thnr is, thc ordcr of the block H, is zcro and therefore it is the cell (0. 0). If ri = 5, p , = U.
q? 1 and r2 = u , +a, - 2 = 0. Therefore, rhe block B, is only the cell (0. 1). Since pj = 1,
+
q3 = 0, r3 = a l . . . +a4 - 2 = 1, the block B, consists of 2 X 2 cells and they are (1. 0). (1. 1).
(2.0) and (3,1). P r o c e c d i ~ ~along
g similar lines we find that the orders of blocks, for example,
B,, B, and 0, are found to be 0. 0 and 1. respectively. In vicw of (5.8) we see that the 1st. 2nd,
4th, 5th order convergcnts of (2.1) are normal Pad6 approximants, while the remaining
converpents arc all nonnormal. Their Pat16 realization and block structures arc depicted in
Tablc 2. For convergents of order 3n + 2, t l 2 2. (5.1 1) is
P 3,-, +q3,,-2+r',,,*,+ l = n , + ... + a ,, z,

Tahle Z
Results of the convergents of (2.1)
Order Im/)~l Ord[R(.-)]=r Type of
approxiniant
I IO/()l 0 n'orrnal
-> lO/ll 0 Normal
4 11/3 0 Nor~n;~l
5 ['/?I 0 Norm31
3 I I /Ol I Surplus
6 11/31 I Su~plus
3n+? [$n2+ n + ? ) / ( n iI)] ,r- I Surplus
tl=?.f, ...
3(n + 1 ) [il~t~+n-c-!),/(ln+
I)] 11 - 1 Surplus
n=2.3 ....
311 1 Almosl Pad6 fraction -1 Parlial
lr=:.i. ...
that is.
~2 ( I+31r
I ~ + 6) + r 3 , , + : = !(I, + 1)(1r + 4).
that is,
~ ~ , , + ~ -= 1.
11 (5.17)
Similarly for the 3(r1+ I)th order convcrgcnts, 11 3 2, (5.1 I ) yiclds

Equations (5.12) and (5.13) show that the ordcr of thc succcssivc blocks B,,,,, and R,,,,,,.
n 2, are equal. Since

the position of onc block is just one ccll lower than that of thc other. Also

This implies that thc common line segmcnt of thc blocks fj,,,,? and 13,,,,+,, is progressively
increasing. Further. the gcornctric configuration of the Icft-side blocks is represented by

The corresponding relations for the right-side blocks are

It is observed clearly that the order of blocks are incrcusiny regularly. In this contcxt, it is
worthwhile to recall the prophetic words of W;rll (201: "We might be pcrrnittcd to cor~ject~rre
that the nature of the blocks in the table have a bearing upon thc nature of the function
represcntcd by thc powcr serics. Pcrhaps any powcr scrics whose Pad6 table cont~iinsa
sequence o f blocks whose orders incre;isc sufficiently rapidly represents a function with a
natural boundary".

6. Concluding remarks

A study of the C-fraction expansion of the Eisenstein-Ramanujan continued fraction brings

out some ncw aspects s ~ ~ 3sc hpartial Pad5 approrimalits and two-third part contractions. ;2n
explicit method of expansion of rational functions into power scrics is exploited in order to
determine the cxact contact properties of thc convcr:y.cnts. The convcrgcnts of C-fraction
ewansiu~lof E ( z ) rcveitl that the unit circle is thc naruri~l boundary for the scrics. An
observation is [hat t l ~ cblocks of convcrgents lie not arnrlnd rhc main diagonal of the
ilr~porta~lt
Pad6 table hut are far away. Perhaps, this is due to the prcsencc of non-Pad; convcrgcnts,
which occur periodically.
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