If we take the product of all natural numbers a and their inverses a − 1 , we get 1, because we can use the one-to-one map a → a − 1 and therefore
P = 1 × 2 2 × 3 3 × 4 4 × ⋯ = a ∈ N ∏ a a − 1 = a ∈ N ∏ 1 = 1 .
If instead, we use the one-to-one map a → a − 1 1 , the product seems to be larger than 1, because every term in the product is greater than 1:
P = 1 × 2 × ( 2 3 × 3 4 × 4 5 ) × ⋯ = 2 a > 2 ∈ N ∏ a − 1 a = ∞ .
Finally, if we pick a → a + 1 a , the product seems to be zero.
Something is wrong. What's the deal?
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I think none of the solutions is correct. With a/(a-1) the solution is infinite as (... x/y z/x ... => ... 1/y z/1 ...) in the hypothetical final division the result is ... ∞/1. If we take a/(a+1) the hypothetical final division becomes ... 1/∞ which is actually zero. For sure all divisions by zero and ∞ are not well defined, but if we have a one on the other side of the division we can argue a stalemate.
Some may define the convergence of product equivalently as the sum of the logged terms. It follows that the series of a n = ln n n + 1 does not converge absolutely, hence the series of the above is not well-defined, and the product given is not well-defined,
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With the map: a → a − 1 a P = a → ∞ lim a = ∞ And with the map: a → a + 1 a P = a → ∞ lim a + 1 1 = 0 So the answer is: This product is not well-defined