Related papers: When is 0.999... equal to 1?
We represent the sums $\sum_{k=0}^{n-1}{n \choose k}^{-2}$, $\sum_{k=0}^m{m\choose k}^{-1}{a\choose n-k}^{-1}$, $\sum_{k=0}^{n-1}\frac{q^{-k(k-1)}}{{\genfrac{[}{]}{0pt}{}{n}{k}}_q}$, and the sum of the reciprocals of the summands in Dixon's…
We reconsider the classical equality 0.999. .. = 1 with the tool of circular words, that is: finite words whose last letter is assumed to be followed by the first one. Such circular words are naturally embedded with algebraic structures…
Is .999... equal to 1? Lightstone's decimal expansions yield an infinity of numbers in [0,1] whose expansion starts with an unbounded number of digits "9". We present some non-standard thoughts on the ambiguity of an ellipsis, modeling the…
We examine alternative interpretations of the symbol described as nought, point, nine recurring. Is "an infinite number of 9s" merely a figure of speech? How are such alternative interpretations related to infinite cardinalities? How are…
For $a\in \Bbb Z$ and $b\in\Bbb N$, $(a,b)=1$, let $s(a,b)$ denote the classical Dedekind sum. We show that Dedekind sums take this value infinitely many times in the following sense. There are pairs $(a_i,b_i)$, $i\in\Bbb N$, with $b_i$…
We prove that the ratio of the Newman sum over numbers multiple of a fixed integer which is not multiple of 3 and the Newman sum over numbers multiple of a fixed integer divisible by 3 is o(1) when the upper limit of summing tends to…
In this note, we prove that for every two positive integers $m \geq n \geq 9$, there exist $n$ positive rational numbers whose product is 1 and sum is $m$.
Natural numbers from 0 to 11111 are written in terms of 1 to 9 in two different ways. The first one in increasing order of 1 to 9, and the second one in decreasing order. This is done by using the operations of addition, multiplication,…
This is the translation of Leonhard Euler's paper "De Seriebus divergentibus" written in Latin into English. Leonhard Euler defines and discusses divergent series. He is especially interested in the example $1!-2!+3!-\text{etc.}$ and uses…
We find this identity, that looks like an exercise in Calculus 1, surprising, and beautiful. We hope that you would too.
In 1986, Tomaszewski made the following conjecture. Given $n$ real numbers $a_{1},...,a_{n}$ with $\sum_{i=1}^{n}a_{i}^{2}=1$, then of the $2^{n}$ signed sums $\pm a_{1} \pm ... \pm a_{n}$, at least half have absolute value at most $1$.…
Let $\mathbb{N}_0$ be a class of natural numbers whose binary decompositions has even number of 1. We estimate of the sum $\sum\limits_{n\in \mathbf{N}_0,n\le X}\exp(2\pi i \alpha n^2)$.
In this paper, we prove the conjecture that if there is an odd perfect number, then there are infinitely many of them.
We show that sequences of positive integers whose ratios $a_n^2/a_{n+1}$ lie within a specific range are almost uniquely determined by their reciprocal sums. For instance, the Sylvester sequence is uniquely characterized as the only…
It is known that the sum of the reciprocal of integers, $\sum_n (1/n)$, and the sum of the reciprocal of primes, $\sum_n (1/p_n)$, both diverge. Here, we study a series made from primes that sums exactly to 1. We also show this sum is…
Euler gives a long introduction, giving all the arguments for and against the use of divergent series in calculus and then gives his own definition of the sum of a diverging series. Then in the second half of this paper he evaluates the the…
Recently, the authors showed that for every irrational number $\alpha$, there exist infinitely many positive integers $n$ represented by any given positive definite binary quadratic form $Q$, satisfying $||\alpha n||<n^{-(1/2-\varepsilon)}$…
I present a novel mathematical technique for dealing with the infinities arising from divergent sums and integrals. It assigns them fine-grained infinite values from the set of hyperreal numbers in a manner that refines the standard…
As far as algebraic properties are concerned, the usual addition on the class of ordinal numbers is not really well behaved; for example, it is not commutative, nor left cancellative etc. In a few cases, the natural Hessemberg sum is a…
We establish that, for almost all natural numbers $N$, there is a sum of two positive integral cubes lying in the interval $[N-N^{7/18+\epsilon},N]$. Here, the exponent $7/18$ lies half way between the trivial exponent $4/9$ stemming from…