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The block-stacking problem: blocks aligned according to the harmonic series can overhang the edge of a table by the harmonic numbers In the block-stacking problem , one must place a pile of n {\displaystyle n} identical rectangular blocks, one per layer, so that they hang as far as possible over the edge of a table without falling.
The harmonic numbers roughly approximate the natural logarithm function [2]: 143 and thus the associated harmonic series grows without limit, albeit slowly. In 1737, Leonhard Euler used the divergence of the harmonic series to provide a new proof of the infinity of prime numbers .
The fourth harmonic vibrates at four times the frequency of the fundamental and sounds a perfect fourth above the third harmonic (two octaves above the fundamental). Double the harmonic number means double the frequency (which sounds an octave higher). An illustration in musical notation of the harmonic series (on C) up to the 20th harmonic.
An infinite series of any rational function of can be reduced to a finite series of polygamma functions, by use of partial fraction decomposition, [8] as explained here. This fact can also be applied to finite series of rational functions, allowing the result to be computed in constant time even when the series contains a large number of terms.
This was proved by Leonhard Euler in 1737, [1] and strengthens Euclid's 3rd-century-BC result that there are infinitely many prime numbers and Nicole Oresme's 14th-century proof of the divergence of the sum of the reciprocals of the integers (harmonic series).
The area of the blue region converges to Euler's constant. Euler's constant (sometimes called the Euler–Mascheroni constant) is a mathematical constant, usually denoted by the lowercase Greek letter gamma (γ), defined as the limiting difference between the harmonic series and the natural logarithm, denoted here by log:
In mathematics, a number of concepts employ the word harmonic. The similarity of this terminology to that of music is not accidental: the equations of motion of vibrating strings, drums and columns of air are given by formulas involving Laplacians ; the solutions to which are given by eigenvalues corresponding to their modes of vibration.
It is known, that the harmonic numbers are never integers except the case n=1. The same question can be posed with respect to the hyperharmonic numbers: are there integer hyperharmonic numbers? István Mező proved [5] that if r=2 or r=3, these numbers are never integers except the trivial case when n=1.