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for questions about sequences and series, e.g. convergence, closed form expressions, etc. Note that there is a different tag for spectral sequences, and also note that MathOverflow is not for homework. Please consider consulting the online encyclopedia for integer sequences, if you are trying to identify a given sequence that you have found in your research.

8 votes

Slick proof of Stirling's Formula?

I've played around with this a bit. I have a slick lower bound, but not a slick upper bound. We start with the $ \Gamma $-integral: $$ n! = \int_{x=0}^\infty x^n e^{-x} dx = \int_{y=-n}^\infty (n+y)^n …
Thomas Dybdahl Ahle's user avatar
6 votes
Accepted

Powers of $2$ up to $2^{m-1}$ from a polynomial of degree $m-1$

This is a fun problem! You start out by describing the conjectured coefficients of $P(n,m)$, but presumably you started out by computing the polynomial which interpolates $2^{n-1}$ and then noticed a …
David E Speyer's user avatar
9 votes

Reciprocals of Fibonacci numbers

Just to make the obvious comments: Let $q = (1 - \sqrt{5})/2$. Then $F_n=((-q^{-1})^{n} - q^n)/\sqrt{5}$. So $$\sum \frac{1}{F_n} = \sqrt{5} \sum \frac{q^n}{1-(-1)^n q^{2n}}.$$ This looks kind of like …
Martin Sleziak's user avatar
31 votes

Elementary proof of the equidistribution theorem

There is a really easy proof that just uses the Pigeonhole principle. Let $\alpha$ be irrational. Lemma: For any $\delta >0$, there is an $n>0$ such that $(n \alpha) \in (- \delta, \delta) \setminus \ …
Gabe Conant's user avatar
  • 3,274
3 votes

On the Dirichlet series for $1/\zeta(s)$ for real $s$ and the zeros of zeta

Let $s_0>0$. The right statement is that the following are equivalent: The sum $\sum_{n=1} \tfrac{\mu(n)}{n^s}$ converges for $s>s_0$. $\zeta(s)$ has no zeroes with real part $>s_0$. $1/\zeta(s)$ h …
David E Speyer's user avatar
10 votes

A possible surprise involving Euler's constant $e$

Sure. $$c_n = \frac{1}{n+1} + \frac{1}{(n+1)(n+2)}+ \frac{1}{(n+1)(n+2)(n+3)} \cdots$$ so $$\frac{1}{n+1} < c_n < \frac{1}{n+1}+\frac{1}{(n+1)^2}+\frac{1}{(n+1)^3}+\cdots = \frac{1}{n}.$$ That prov …
David E Speyer's user avatar
9 votes

Optimal Talmudic Zigzag

This is a special case of finding the longest path in a directed acyclic graph. Namely, the vertices of our graph are $1$, $2$, ..., $n$, there is an edge $i \to j$ for each $i<j$ and the length of th …
David E Speyer's user avatar
24 votes

Rearrangements that never change the value of a sum

For the purpose of recording an answer rather than just a pile of links: Michael Hardy requires that if either limit exists then so does the other and in that case then they are equal? Let's cal …
Martin Sleziak's user avatar
7 votes
Accepted

Angle between two given vector is small. Can we permute coordinates of them such that new ve...

No. Let $$\vec{x} = \vec{y} = \frac{1}{\sqrt{12+6 \sqrt{3}}} (-2-\sqrt{3},1,1+\sqrt{3}).$$ So $\vec{x} \cdot \vec{y} = 1$, but $x_1 y_2+x_2 y_1 + x_3 y_3=0$.
David E Speyer's user avatar
4 votes

Extremal problem for sequences

The ratio $\sqrt{2}/2$ is optimal. Set $$a_n = \binom{n-7/4}{n-1} r^n \ \mbox{for} \ n \geq 1.$$ Let $Y(r)$ and $X(r)$ be the corresponding sums. I claim that $$ \lim_{r \to 1^-} \frac{X(r)}{Y(r)} = …
David E Speyer's user avatar
10 votes

The coefficient of a specific monomial of the following polynomial

The coefficient is always zero. I use the superb conventions of Concrete Mathematics: Sums are over all integers unless otherwise indicated, and $\binom{n}{k}$ is $0$ if $k<0$ or $>n \geq 0$. Expandi …
darij grinberg's user avatar
8 votes

When is there a closed form for $\sum_{n=1}^{\infty} \frac{P(n)}{Q(n)}$?

As GH from MO says, it depends what you think is a closed form. Any function of the form $P(n)/Q(n)$ with $\deg P \leq \deg Q -2$ can be written as a linear combination of $1/(n+1) - 1/(n+\alpha)$ an …
David E Speyer's user avatar
6 votes
Accepted

What is the rate of convergence?

Putting $x_n = 1+y_n$, we have $y_{n+1} = y_n + \frac{y_n^2}{2}$. There is a standard method for analyzing recursions of the form $y_{n+1} = y_n+O(y_n^2)$. A good introduction is chapter 8.4 in de Bru …
Michael Lugo's user avatar
4 votes
Accepted

On one class of Somos-like sequences

I believe this is a special case of Case (9) in Theorem 3.9 of Allman, Cuenca and Huang. By the way, this paper was an REU project!
David E Speyer's user avatar
20 votes

Does this sequence always give an integer?

This is the special case $(p,q,r)=(1,2,3)$ of the $3$-term Gale-Robinson recurrence: $$x_{n+p+q+r} x_n = x_{n+p} x_{n+q+r} + x_{n+q} x_{n+p+r} + x_{n+p+q} x_{n+r}$$ Fomin and Zelevinsky proved that, …
Alexey Ustinov's user avatar

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