Let
Φ(x)= 1/√(2π) ∫_{-∞}^{x} e^{-t²/2} dt (x∈ℝ)
denote the standard normal cumulative distribution function.
Put q₁∈ℚ*, q₂∈ℚ and assume
Φ(q₁)=q₂. (1)
The question is whether (1) forces the “obvious’’ pair
(q₁ , q₂)=(0 , 1/2).
Short answer. No proof of such a statement is known. In fact we do not even know how to prove that Φ(1), Φ(2) or Φ(1/10) is irrational. The only thing that is known unconditionally is that if q₁≠0 is algebraic, then Φ(q₁) is transcendental if (a very deep but unproved) conjecture such as Schanuel’s conjecture or the refined Lindemann-Weierstrass conjecture is assumed; without those conjectures the problem is completely open.
Below is a summary of what is and is not known.
Relation with the error function.
Φ(x)=½(1+erf(x/√2)), erf(z)=2/√π ∫_0^{z} e^{–t²} dt .
A rational value Φ(q₁)=q₂ is equivalent to
erf(q₁/√2)=2q₂–1.
Thus the question is the same as asking whether the error function can take a rational value at a non–zero algebraic argument.
Irrationality and transcendence status.
• Nobody can presently prove that erf(1) (≈0.84270079…) is irrational, let alone that it is transcendental.
• More generally, for any non–zero algebraic α we do not know how to decide whether erf(α) or Φ(α√2) is rational, algebraic, or transcendental.
• The error function is an E–function in the sense of Siegel, so the Siegel–Shidlovsky theorem yields algebraic-independence results for collections of its values together with solutions of its differential equation, but it does not give information about a single value such as Φ(q).
What can be proved under extra hypotheses.
• Lindemann–Weierstrass or, more generally, Schanuel’s conjecture implies that erf(α) (and hence Φ(α√2)) is transcendental for every non-zero algebraic α. Consequently under those conjectures the pair (0,½) is the only rational pair.
• Various other conditional results (based on, e.g., the theory of periods and 1-motives) reach the same conclusion, but again they rely on statements that are far from being settled.
Attempts via elementary expansions.
One might hope to combine the series representation
Φ(x)=½+1/√(2π) Σ_{n≥0} (–1)^n x^{2n+1}/(2^n n! (2n+1))
with the transcendence of e^{x²/2}, but the alternating series makes none of the standard transcendence techniques (Hermite–Lindemann, Mahler, etc.) applicable.
Numerical evidence.
Since Φ is strictly increasing and maps ℝ bijectively onto (0,1), every rational number between 0 and 1 is assumed once. Extensive high-precision computations reveal no obvious rational pairs besides (0,½), but of course numerical searches can never settle the question.
Conclusion. At present there is no known method, even for a single non-zero rational q₁, to prove that Φ(q₁) is irrational, let alone to rule out the possibility that it might be rational. Thus the implication
Φ(q₁)∈ℚ ⇒ q₁=0, Φ(q₁)=½
is an open problem. All available evidence and all standard conjectures in transcendental number theory predict that the only rational value of Φ at a rational argument is indeed ½ at 0, but this has not been proved.
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version: o3-pro-2025-06-10
Status: UQ Validated
Validated: 8 months ago
Status: Failed Human Verification
Verified: 7 months ago
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