#why 1+2+3+4......=(-1/12) ?
median valleyBOT
marble badge
It isn't
It's a quirk of a certain summation technique
Writing 1+2+3+4+...=-1/12 is massive abuse of notation
mild cipher
i swear it’s wrong as the series diverges
viscid forum
The sum of all natural numbers is divergent. Not -1/12. However, there are ways to make sense of it, such as the Riemann zeta function.
$\zeta (s) = \sum_{n=1}^{\infty} \frac{1}{n^s}$
tawny ingotBOT
Pi
viscid forum
Where s=-1
dense sparrow
It depends on how you define a sum to infinity. An infinite sum isn't really well defined from just our finite understanding of addition. To consider infinite sums, there are a few ways. One approach would say that this particular sum diverges. Another approach would give you the -1/12 you see here. It all depends on the axioms you are working with
quick crystal
The person that first made this a thing on social media deserves to be put in prison
1+2+3.. obviously is not -1/12 in the usual sense
The plus sign you see is not what you think it is
karmic oyster
@viscid forum it was given by a indian mathematician ramunajan not any other mathematician
viscid forum
<@1081149559004213300> it was given by a indian mathematician ramunajan not a...
But you can get the result using the analytic continuation of the Riemann Zeta Function.