Infinite sums, integer sequences
Yesterday my son told me “You know Dad, when you add 1/10 + 4/100 + 9/1000 + 16/10000 forever you end up with 110/729.”
This was part of a discussion we started a year ago when I was teaching him about repeating decimals. We started easy with 1/10 + 1/100 + 1/1000 forever is 1/9, moved on to stuff like 1/9 + 1/81 + 1/729 etc is 1/8. He particularly likes 1/49, which has a 42 digit repeat and is 0.0204081633..etc or the sum of (2^n)/(100^n) where n is 1..infinity.
He also likes how 1/4 is related to 1/49 and 1/499. 1/4 is sum((2^n)/(10^n)) (n <- 1..infinity), 1/49 is sum((2^n)/(100^n)), and 1/499 is sum((2^n)/(1000^n)).
Anyway, since 1/4 is sum((2^n)/(10^n)), we briefly wondered what sum((n^2)/(10^n)) was. I didn’t know, and I forgot about it.
But my son remembered and somehow calculated it to be 110/729. Then he told me sum((n^2)/(100^n)) is 10100/(99^3). So I suggested maybe sum((n^2)/(X^n)) (n <- 1..infinity) is (X*(X+1))/((X-1)^3).
That’s kind of cool. It’s related to the fact that 1/2 + 1/4 + 1/8 + ..etc.. is 1, and 1/3 + 1/9 + 1/27 + ..etc.. is 1/2, and in general sum(1/(B^n)) is 1/(B-1) (summing over n <- 1..infinity). And also 1/2 + 2/4 + 3/8 + ..etc.. is 2, and 1/3 + 2/9 + 3/27 + ..etc.. is 3/4, and in general sum(n/(B^n)) is B/((B-1)^2). So if my guess above is right maybe we’ve caught a pattern. Take a look:
Summing over n <- 1..infinity: sum((n^0)/(B^n)) is (1 /((B-1)^1)) sum((n^1)/(B^n)) is (B /((B-1)^2)) sum((n^2)/(B^n)) is (B(B+1))/((B-1)^3)
That’s interesting. And the denominator follows the obvious pattern as we go forward. For sum((n^3)/(B^n)) it’s (B-1)^4, for sum((n^4)/(B^n)) it’s (B-1)^5, etc. As for the numerator, you’d think B(B+1)(B+2) might be next.
But it’s not. The numerator is a lot weirder than that.
Let’s look at this again:
Summing over n <- 1..infinity: sum((n^0)/(B^n)) is v0/((B-1)^1) where v0 is 1 sum((n^1)/(B^n)) is v1/((B-1)^2) where v1 is B sum((n^2)/(B^n)) is v2/((B-1)^3) where v2 is B(B+1) sum((n^3)/(B^n)) is v3/((B-1)^4) where v3 is ? ... sum((n^A)/(B^n)) is vA/((B-1)^(A+1))
Is there an easy way to describe the numerators v3, v4, v5, etc? To find out I wrote some code. You can see it here (in series.erl). Here’s what the function sum_na_over_bn_numerator (and list_close_sum_na_over_bn_numerator_for_b) told me:
| For A | Numerator when B is 2 | Numerator when B is 3 | Numerator when B is 4 | Numerator when B is 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 2 | 6 | 12 | 20 | 30 |
| 3 | 26 | 66 | 132 | 230 |
| 4 | 150 | 480 | 1140 | 2280 |
| 5 | 1082 | 4368 | 12324 | 28280 |
| 6 | 9366 | 47712 | 160020 | 421680 |
| 7 | 94586 | 608016 | 2424132 | 7336880 |
| 8 | 1091670 | 8855040 | 41967540 | 145879680 |
| 9 | 14174522 | 145083648 | 817374564 | 3263031680 |
The first three rows are 1, B, and B(B+1) as I stated above. But the rows after that are harder to figure. If the next numerator were B(B+1)(B+2), the 4th row (where A is 3) would be 24, 60, 120, 210 instead of 26, 66, 132, 230. I don’t know of a simple expression to generate this sequence.
The column where B is 2 is the sequence [1, 2, 6, 26, 150, 1082, 9366, 94586, 1091670, 14174522, 204495126, etc]. This series is described as the Number of necklaces of sets of labeled beads (A000629) in the Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences (att.com). It is also mentioned in Stirling Number of the Second Kind (wolfram.com).
The column where B is 3 is the sequence [1, 3, 12, 66, 480, 4368, 47712, 608016, 8855040, 145083648, 2641216512, etc]. This series is also (sort of) described in the Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences (att.com) where it is called the Expansion of ln(1+sinh(x)/exp(x)) (A009362). But A009362 is not exactly the same sequence since it starts with 0 and has alternating positive and negative integers, like this: [0, 1, -3, 12, -66, 480, -4368, 47712, -608016, etc].
We can turn this table on its side with the function list_close_sum_na_over_bn_numerator_for_a and look at other integer sequences.
| For B | Numerator when A is 0 | Numerator when A is 1 | Numerator when A is 2 | Numerator when A is 3 | Numerator when A is 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 26 | 150 |
| 3 | 1 | 3 | 12 | 66 | 480 |
| 4 | 1 | 4 | 20 | 132 | 1140 |
| 5 | 1 | 5 | 30 | 230 | 2280 |
| 6 | 1 | 6 | 42 | 366 | 4074 |
| 7 | 1 | 7 | 56 | 546 | 6720 |
| 8 | 1 | 8 | 72 | 776 | 10440 |
| 9 | 1 | 9 | 90 | 1062 | 15480 |
| 10 | 1 | 10 | 110 | 1410 | 22110 |
| 11 | 1 | 11 | 132 | 1826 | 30624 |
And of course the 2nd column (where A=0) is always 1, the 3rd column is the same as B, and the fourth column is B(B+1).
The fourth column values (B(B+1)) are also known as the Pronic Numbers. In the Encyclopedia they are called the Oblong (or pronic, or heteromecic) numbers: n(n+1) (A002378).
I don’t have names for any of the other integer sequences in the tables above. I’ll list a few of them here in case someone ever googles them. (I don’t think google is very good at recognizing number sequences in table columns.)
The following lists are just google bait. Read above to find out where they came from.
Sequences from list_close_sum_na_over_bn_numerator_for_a( N ):
- 26, 66, 132, 230, 366, 546, 776, 1062, 1410, 1826
- 150, 480, 1140, 2280, 4074, 6720, 10440, 15480, 22110, 30624
- 1082, 4368, 12324, 28280, 56670, 103152, 174728, 279864, 428610, 632720
- 9366, 47712, 160020, 421680, 948570, 1907136, 3525192, 6103440, 10027710, 15781920
Sequences from list_close_sum_na_over_bn_numerator_for_b( N ):
- 3, 12, 66, 480, 4368, 47712, 608016, 8855040, 145083648, 2641216512
- 4, 20, 132, 1140, 12324, 160020, 2424132, 41967540, 817374564, 17688328020
- 5, 30, 230, 2280, 28280, 421680, 7336880, 145879680, 3263031680, 81097294080
- 6, 42, 366, 4074, 56670, 948570, 18532590, 413749770, 10391253630, 289972117050
Comments
4 Responses to “Infinite sums, integer sequences”
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prove of sum ((n^2)/(10^n)) = 110/729:
first we have 1/(1-x/10) = sum (x/10)^n
then (1/(1-x/10))’ = sum ((x/10)^n)’
we get (10/(10-x)^2) = sum (n*(x/10)^(n-1)/10)
times x to both side (10x/(10-x)^2) = sum (n*(x/10)^n)
calculate differential again 10*(1/(10-x)^2 + 2x/(10-x)^3) = sum ((n^2)*(x/10)^(n-1)/10)
times x to both side again 10x*(10+x)/(10-x)^3 = sum ((n^2)*(x/10)^n)
let x = 1, it is 10*11/9^3 = sum ((n^2)*(x/10)^n), yeah it is 110/729
Thanks Zealot. I’d never get that on my own. I guess you’ve also proven that sum((n^2)/(B^n)) is (B(B+1))/((B-1)^3). You just have to plug in B wherever there’s a 10.
Anyway, I’ll show it to my son. It’ll be a good excuse to introduce him to differentials.
Related post:
http://cornellmath.wordpress.com/2009/04/05/a-sill-infinite-series/
Hi Neal,
Thanks very much for your kind words, and I’m glad that you found the information on my post interesting. I read your page and am happy to hear that you are teaching your son mathematics and experimental mathematics. The confidence that one can discover things on one’s own is a fantastic gift to give to a child.
Peter