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For example, many summation methods are used in mathematics to assign numerical values even to a divergent series. In particular, the methods of zeta function regularization and Ramanujan summation assign the series a value of − + 1 / 12 , which is expressed by a famous formula: [ 2 ]
A major problem was Euler's idea that any divergent series should have a natural sum, without first defining what is meant by the sum of a divergent series. Augustin-Louis Cauchy eventually gave a rigorous definition of the sum of a (convergent) series, and for some time after this, divergent series were mostly excluded from mathematics.
In the mathematics of convergent and divergent series, Euler summation is a summation method. That is, it is a method for assigning a value to a series, different from the conventional method of taking limits of partial sums. Given a series Σa n, if its Euler transform converges to a sum, then that sum is called the Euler sum of the original ...
While the partial sums of the reciprocals of the primes eventually exceed any integer value, they never equal an integer. One proof [6] is by induction: The first partial sum is 1 / 2 , which has the form odd / even . If the n th partial sum (for n ≥ 1) has the form odd / even , then the (n + 1) st sum is
He formally defined the (C, n) methods in 1890 in order to state his theorem that the Cauchy product of a (C, n)-summable series and a (C, m)-summable series is (C, m + n + 1)-summable. [ 10 ] Abel summation
Because it is a divergent series, it should be interpreted as a formal sum, an abstract mathematical expression combining the unit fractions, rather than as something that can be evaluated to a numeric value. There are many different proofs of the divergence of the harmonic series, surveyed in a 2006 paper by S. J. Kifowit and T. A. Stamps. [13]
For example, many asymptotic expansions are derived from the formula, and Faulhaber's formula for the sum of powers is an immediate consequence. The formula was discovered independently by Leonhard Euler and Colin Maclaurin around 1735. Euler needed it to compute slowly converging infinite series while Maclaurin used it to calculate integrals.
The sum of the series is approximately equal to 1.644934. [3] The Basel problem asks for the exact sum of this series (in closed form), as well as a proof that this sum is correct. Euler found the exact sum to be / and announced this discovery in 1735. His arguments were based on manipulations that were not justified at the time, although he ...