
Theorem 3
No orbit of the Gauss map has a Lyapunov exponent smaller
than
.
Proof
Let
be any initial
point in
such that
exists. We will show
that the product
which appears in
the definition of
must be at least
(for
N sufficiently large) which will prove the theorem. We consider
two subsequent elements
and
of the orbit
of
. If k=N, enlarge the product by one term. Note
and
are related by
.
If
then the contribution of
to
the product is at least
. If instead
then
so
the contribution of
to the product
is at least
. This proves the theorem.