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Suppose that we have $$ n=k^{\frac{1}{\beta}k^22^{k+12}\log\frac 1{\alpha}} $$ where $\alpha,\beta\in(0,1)$. It is claimed that $$ k\sim C\log\log n $$ for some constant $C=C(\alpha,\beta)$. How do one deduce such an estimate?

I am totally lost here, any help is very much appreciated.

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I assume logarithms in base $2$. This would not change anything anyway, besides constants.

First, note that $$ n=k^{\frac{1}{\beta}k^22^{k+12}\log\frac{1}{\alpha}} = 2^{\frac{1}{\beta}k^22^{k+12}\log\frac{1}{\alpha} \log k} = 2^{\frac{2^{12}\log\frac{1}{\alpha}}{\beta}k^22 ^{k} \log k} $$ so $$ \log n = \frac{2^{12}\log\frac{1}{\alpha}}{\beta}\cdot k^22 ^{k} \log k = C'\cdot 2 ^{k + 2\log k+\log\log k} $$ setting $C'\stackrel{\rm def}{=} \frac{2^{12}\log\frac{1}{\alpha}}{\beta}$.

Taking the logarithm again, we get $$ \log\log n = k + 2\log k+\log\log k + O(1) $$ and, when $k\to\infty$, the right-hand side satisfies $$k + 2\log k+\log\log k + O(1)\operatorname*{\sim}_{k\to\infty} k$$ which implies $$ \log\log n\operatorname*{\sim}_{k\to\infty} k. $$

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    Yes you are right, it is actually $\log\frac 1{\alpha}$. – 2017-02-23
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    So $C(\alpha,\beta)$ is really independent of $\alpha$ and $\beta$? At first I arrive at something very similar but I thought I was wrong since I got $C=1$. – 2017-02-23
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    As far as I can tell: you are only looking at the first-order term, so yes. – 2017-02-23
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    Thank you very much! Anyway, I'm just curious as to what you meant by "first order term". What does it mean to calculate an asymptotic to the, says, second order? – 2017-02-23
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    Think of it as an approximation of the form $f(x) \sim_{x\to\infty} x$. This is the first term; you can also write it $f(x) = x + o(x)$, or $\frac{f(x)-x}{x} \xrightarrow[x\to\infty]{} 0$. But you good tdo an expansion of that sort to lower order terms: e.g., $f(x) = x+\sqrt{x} + o(\log x)$ (meaning $\frac{f(x)-(x+\sqrt{x})}{\log x}\xrightarrow[x\to\infty]{} 0$ "the function $f$ is well-approximated at $\infty$ by the simpler function $x+\sqrt{x}$, and the remaining term is negligible in front of $\log x$". – 2017-02-23