Somebody observed that the equation ( 2 n + 1 ) ! ! ∫ 0 ∞ t n + 1 1 sin ( t ) sin ( t / 3 ) sin ( t / 5 ) . . . sin ( t / ( 2 n + 1 ) ) d t = 2 π holds for n = 0 , 1 , 2 , 3 , where m ! ! represents the double factorial. Does it hold for all positive integers n ? If so, enter 666; otherwise enter the smallest positive integer n for which the equation fails.
Bonus: What happens if you replace 2 n + 1 by 1 0 0 n + 1 and ( 2 n + 1 ) ! ! by ∏ k = 1 n ( 1 0 0 k + 1 ) ?
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Yes, exactly (well, almost: I believe the threshold is around 1 . 5 × 1 0 4 3 , somewhere between e 9 9 and e 1 0 0 ) . Somebody with a lot (too much?) time on their hands figured out that the equation fails for n ≥ 1 5 , 3 4 1 , 1 7 8 , 7 7 7 , 6 7 3 , 1 4 9 , 4 2 9 , 1 6 7 , 7 4 0 , 4 4 0 , 9 6 9 , 2 4 9 , 3 3 8 , 3 1 0 , 8 8 9 .
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Typo in the index! Otherwise, we agree to 6 decimal places. Since we have D n = 1 0 0 1 [ ψ ( n + 1 0 0 1 0 1 ) − ψ ( 1 0 0 1 0 1 ) ] we have a precise formula to determine the precise value of n where things go pear-shaped. After that, it is a matter of mere computation.
Here is a good article on the Borwein integrals with lots of graphs that make it easier (and more fun) to understand what is going on, at least for me.
@Otto Bretscher Sir, I know that you already know this, but still, it is worth mentioning the person who discovered these amazing patterns!!! That somebody was Borwein.......
Yes, indeed, but I did not want to mention this since otherwise people will just look it up ;)
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True!!! :)
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It wasn't just "that somebody," it was a father and son team.
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@Otto Bretscher – ...and they submitted the n = 7 integral to the Maple developers as a "bug", or so the story goes...
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Look here for a detailed analysis of these so-called Borwein integrals.
As for the bonus question, we are interested in knowing when the identity ∫ 0 ∞ k = 0 ∏ n s i n c ( 1 0 0 k + 1 x ) d x = 2 1 π stops holding. Generalising the work in the given link, this integral is equal to 2 1 π ∫ − 1 1 ( f 1 0 1 ⋆ f 2 0 1 ⋆ ⋯ ⋆ f 1 0 0 n + 1 ) ( x ) d x and this will be equal to 2 1 π so long as D n < 1 , where D n = k = 1 ∑ n 1 0 0 k + 1 1 This is because the support of the convolution f 1 0 1 ⋆ f 2 0 1 ⋆ ⋯ ⋆ f 1 0 0 n + 1 is [ − D n , D n ] . Using the estimates ∫ 1 n + 1 1 0 0 x + 1 d x ≤ D n ≤ ∫ 0 n 1 0 0 x + 1 d x we deduce that D n approximates 1 in the range 2 . 7 × 1 0 4 1 = 1 0 0 1 ( e 1 0 0 − 1 ) ≤ n ≤ 1 0 0 1 0 1 ( e 1 0 0 − 1 ) = 2 . 7 × 1 0 4 3 Evaluating D n exactly in terms of the polygamma function, Mathematica tells me that the witching value of n is in the order of 1 . 5 3 4 1 2 × 1 0 4 3 .