×

A proof that Euler missed: Evaluating \(\zeta\) (2) the easy way. (English) Zbl 0538.10001

The author proves Euler’s identity \(\sum^{\infty}_{n=1}n^{- 2}=\pi^ 2/6\) by simply evaluating a certain double integral in two different ways. Contrary to the more standard proofs this approach can be presented in a course in elementary calculus.
Reviewer: F.Beukers

MSC:

11-01 Introductory exposition (textbooks, tutorial papers, etc.) pertaining to number theory
11M06 \(\zeta (s)\) and \(L(s, \chi)\)
40A05 Convergence and divergence of series and sequences
PDF BibTeX XML Cite
Full Text: DOI

References:

[1] R. Apéry (1979) Irrationalité de {\(\zeta\)}(2) et {\(\zeta\)}(3).Astérisque 62.11–13. Paris: Société Mathématique de France.
[2] F. Beukers (1979) A note on the irrationality of {\(\zeta\)}(2) and {\(\zeta\)}(3),Bull. Lon. Math. Soc. 11:268–272. · Zbl 0421.10023
[3] F. Goldscheider (1913)Arch. Math. Phys. 20:323–324.
This reference list is based on information provided by the publisher or from digital mathematics libraries. Its items are heuristically matched to zbMATH identifiers and may contain data conversion errors. It attempts to reflect the references listed in the original paper as accurately as possible without claiming the completeness or perfect precision of the matching.