Pi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the mathematical number . For the Greek letter, see Pi (letter). For other uses of pi, , and , see Pi (disambiguation). The number (/p a/) is a mathematical constant that is the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter. The constant, sometimes written pi, is approximately equal to 3.14159. It has been represented by the Greek letter " " since the mid-18th century. is an irrational number, which means that it cannot be expressed exactly as a ratio of two integers (such as 22/7 or other fractions that are commonly used to approximate ); consequently, its decimal representation never ends and never repeats. Moreover, is a transcendental number a number that is not the root of any nonzero polynomial having rational coefficients. The transcendence of implies that it is impossible to solve the ancient challenge of squaring the circle with a compass and straight-edge. The digits in the decimal representation of appear to be random, although no proof of this supposed randomness has yet been discovered. For thousands of years, mathematicians have attempted to extend their understanding of , sometimes by computing its value to a high degree of accuracy. Before the 16th century, mathematicians such as Archimedes and Liu Hui used geometrical techniques, based on polygons, to estimate the value of . Starting in the 16th century, new algorithms based on infinite series revolutionized the computation of , and were used by mathematicians including Mdhava of Sagamgrama , Isaac Newton, Leonhard Euler, Carl Friedrich Gauss, and Srinivasa Ramanujan.

mathematical constant

Part of a series of articles on the

Uses Area of disk Circumference Use in other formulae Properties Irrationality Transcendence Value Less than 22/7 Approximations Memorization People Archimedes Liu Hui Zu Chongzhi Madhava of Sangamagrama William Jones John Machin John Wrench Ludolph van Ceulen Aryabhata History Chronology Book In culture Legislation Holiday Related topics Squaring the circle Basel problem Feynman point Other topics related to
V

In the 20th century, mathematicians and computer scientists discovered new approaches that when combined with increasing computer speeds extended the decimal representation of to over 10 trillion (1013 ) digits. Scientific applications generally require no more than 40 digits of , so the primary motivation for these computations is the human desire to break records; but the extensive calculations involved have been used to test supercomputers and highprecision multiplication algorithms. Because its definition relates to the circle, is found in many formulae in trigonometry and geometry, especially those concerning circles, ellipses, or spheres. It is also found in formulae from other branches of science, such as cosmology, number theory, statistics, fractals, thermodynamics, mechanics, and electromagnetism. The ubiquitous nature of makes it one of the most widely known mathematical constants, both inside and outside the scientific community: Several books devoted to it have been published; the number is celebrated on Pi Day; and news headlines often contain reports about recordsetting calculations of the digits of . Several people have endeavored to memorize the value of with increasing precision, leading to records of over 67,000 digits.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi[3/9/2012 10:32:32 AM]

Pi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Contents [hide] 1 Fundamentals 1.1 Definition 1.2 Name 1.3 Properties 1.4 Continued fractions 1.5 Approximate value 2 History 2.1 Antiquity 2.2 Polygon approximation era 2.3 Infinite series 2.4 Irrationality and transcendence 2.5 Computer era and iterative algorithms 2.6 Motivations for computing 2.7 Rapidly convergent series 2.8 Spigot algorithms 3 Use 3.1 Geometry and trigonometry 3.2 Complex numbers and analysis 3.3 Number theory and Riemann zeta function 3.4 Physics 3.5 Probability and statistics 3.6 Engineering and geology 4 Outside the sciences 4.1 Memorizing digits 4.2 In popular culture 5 See also 6 Notes 7 References 8 Further reading 9 External links

Fundamentals
Definition
is commonly defined as the ratio of a circle's circumference C to its diameter d :[1]

The ratio C / d is constant, regardless of the circle's size. For example, if a circle has twice the diameter of another circle it will also have twice the circumference, preserving the ratio

C / d . This definition of is not universal, because it is only

valid in flat (Euclidean) geometry and is not valid in curved (non-Euclidean) geometries. [1] For this reason, some mathematicians prefer definitions of based on calculus or trigonometry that do not rely on the circle. One such definition is: is twice the smallest positive x for which cos(x) equals 0.[1][2]
The circumference of a circle is slightly more than three times as long as its diameter. The exact ratio is called .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi[3/9/2012 10:32:32 AM]

Pi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Name
The symbol used by mathematicians to represent the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter is the Greek letter . That letter (and therefore the number itself) can be denoted by the Latin word pi . [3] In English, is pronounced as "pie" ( /p a/, / pa/ ).[4] The lower-case letter (or in sans-serif font) is not to be confused with the capital letter , which denotes a product of a sequence. The first mathematician to use the Greek letter to represent the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter was William Jones, who used it in his work Synopsis Palmariorum Matheseos; or, a New Introduction to the Mathematics, of 1706. [5] Jones' first use of the Greek letter was in the phrase "1/2 Periphery ( )" in the discussion of a circle with radius one. He may have chosen because it was the first letter in the Greek spelling of the word periphery .[6] Jones writes that his equations for are from the "ready pen of the truly ingenious Mr. John Machin", leading to speculation that Machin may have employed the Greek letter before Jones. [7] The Greek letter had been used earlier for geometric concepts. For example, in
Leonhard Euler popularized the use of the Greek letter in a work he published in 1748.

1631 it was used by William Oughtred to represent the half-circumference of a circle.[7] After Jones introduced the Greek letter in 1706, it was not adopted by other mathematicians until Euler used it in 1736. Before then, mathematicians sometimes used letters such as c or p instead. [7] Because Euler corresponded heavily with other mathematicians in Europe, the use of the Greek letter spread rapidly.[7] In 1748, Euler used in his widely read work Introductio in analysin infinitorum (he wrote: "for the sake of brevity we will write this number as ; thus is equal to half the circumference of a circle of radius 1") and the practice was universally adopted thereafter in the Western world.[7]

Properties
is an irrational number, meaning that it cannot be written as the ratio of two integers, such as 22/7 or other fractions that are commonly used to approximate .[8] Since is irrational, it has an infinite number
of digits in its decimal representation, and it does not end with an infinitely repeating pattern of digits. There are several proofs that is irrational; they generally require calculus and rely on the reductio ad absurdum technique. The degree to which can be approximated by rational numbers (called the irrationality measure) is not precisely known; estimates have established that the irrationality measure is larger than the measure of e or ln(2), but smaller than the measure of Liouville numbers. [9]

is a transcendental number, which means that it is not the solution of any non-constant polynomial with rational
coefficients, such as
[10][11] The

transcendence of has two important consequences: First, cannot be expressed using any combination of rational or numbers and square roots or n -th roots such as Second, since no transcendental number can be constructed with compass and straightedge, it is not possible to "square the circle". In other words, it is impossible to construct, using compass and straightedge alone, a square whose area is equal to the area of a given circle.[12] Squaring a circle was one of the important geometry problems of the classical antiquity.[13] Amateur mathematicians in modern times have sometimes
Because is a transcendental number, squaring the circle is not possible in a finite

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi[3/9/2012 10:32:32 AM]

Pi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

attempted to square the circle, and sometimes claim success, despite the fact that it is impossible. [14]

number of steps using the classical tools of compass and straightedge.

The digits of have no apparent pattern and pass tests for statistical randomness including tests for normality; a number of infinite length is called normal when all possible sequences of digits (of any given length) appear equally often. [15] The hypothesis that is normal has not been proven or disproven.[15] Since the advent of computers, a large number of digits of

have been available on which to perform statistical analysis. Yasumasa Kanada has performed detailed statistical analyses on the decimal digits of , and found them consistent with normality; for example, the
frequency of the ten digits 0 to 9 were subjected to statistical significance tests, and no evidence of a pattern was found. [16] Despite the fact that 's digits pass statistical tests for randomness, contains some sequences of digits that may appear non-random to non-mathematicians, such as the Feynman point, which is a sequence of six consecutive 9s that begins at the 762nd decimal place of the decimal representation of .[17]

Continued fractions
Like all irrational numbers, cannot be represented as a simple fraction. But every irrational number, including , can be represented by an infinite series of nested fractions, called a continued fraction:

The constant is represented in this mosaic outside the mathematics building at the Technische Universitt Berlin .

Truncating the continued fraction at any point generates a fraction that provides an approximation for ; two such fractions (22/7 and 355/113) have been used historically to approximate the constant. Each approximation generated in this way is a best rational approximation; that is, each is closer to than any other fraction with the same or a smaller denominator.[18] Although the simple continued fraction for (shown above) does not exhibit a pattern, [19] mathematicians have discovered several generalized continued fractions that do, such as: [20]

Approximate value
Some approximations of include:
333 355 52163 Fractions : Approximate fractions include (in order of increasing accuracy) 22 7 , 106 , 113 , 16604 , and 103993 [18] 33102 .

Decimal: The first 100 decimal digits are 3.14159 26535 89793 23846 26433 83279 50288 41971 69399 37510 58209 74944 59230 78164 06286 20899 86280 34825 34211 70679 .... [21] Binary : 11.0010 0100 0011 1111 0110 1010 1000 1000 1000 0101 1010 0011 .... Hexadecimal : The base 16 approximation to 20 digits is 3.243F 6A88 85A3 08D3 1319 .... [22] Sexagesimal : A base 60 approximation is 3:8:29:44:1

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi[3/9/2012 10:32:32 AM]

Pi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

History
See also: Chronology of computation of

Antiquity
The Great Pyramid at Giza, constructed c. 25892566 BC, was built with a perimeter of about 1760 cubits and a height of about 280 cubits; the ratio 1760/280 6.2857 is approximately equal to 2 6.2832. Based on this ratio, some Egyptologists concluded that the pyramid builders had knowledge of and deliberately designed the pyramid to incorporate the proportions of a circle.[23] Others maintain that the suggested relationship to is merely a coincidence, because there is no evidence that the pyramid builders had any knowledge of , and because the dimensions of the pyramid are based on other factors.[24] The earliest written approximations of are found in Egypt and Babylon, both within 1 percent of the true value. In Babylon, a clay tablet dated 19001600 BC has a geometrical statement that, by implication, treats as 25/8 = 3.1250. [25] In Egypt, the Rhind Papyrus, dated around 1650 BC, but copied from a document dated to 1850 BC has a formula for the area of a circle that treats as (16/9)2 3.1605. [25] In India around 600 BC, the Shulba Sutras (Sanskrit texts that are rich in mathematical contents) treat as (9785/5568) 2 3.088. [26] In 150 BC, or perhaps earlier, Indian sources treat as 3.1622. [27] Two verses in the Hebrew Bible (written between the 8th and 3rd centuries BC) describe a ceremonial pool in the Temple of Solomon with a diameter of ten cubits and a circumference of thirty cubits; the verses imply is about three if the pool is circular. [28][29] Rabbi Nehemiah explained the discrepancy as being due to the thickness of the vessel. His early work of geometry, Mishnat ha-Middot , was written around 150 AD and takes the value of to be three and one seventh. [30]

Polygon approximation era

The first recorded algorithm for rigorously calculating the value of was a geometrical approach using polygons, devised around 250 BC by the Greek mathematician Archimedes.[31] This polygonal algorithm dominated for over 1,000 years, and as a result is sometimes referred to as "Archimedes' constant". [32] Archimedes computed can be estimated by computing the perimeters of circumscribed
and inscribed polygons.

upper and lower bounds of by drawing regular polygons inside and outside a circle, and calculating the perimeters of the outer and inner polygons.[33] By using the equivalent of 96-sided polygons, he proved that 223/71 < < 22/7, that is 3.1408 < < 3.1429. [33] Archimedes' upper bound of 22/7 may have led to a widespread popular belief that is equal to 22/7.[34] Around 150 AD, Greek-Roman scientist Ptolemy, in his Almagest, gave a value for of 3.1416, which he may have obtained from Archimedes or from Apollonius of Perga. [35] Mathematicians using polygonal algorithms reached 39 digits of in 1630, a record only broken in 1699 when infinite series were used to reach 71 digits.[36] In ancient China, values for included 3.1547 (around 1 AD), (100 AD, approximately 3.1623), and 142/45 (3rd century, approximately 3.1556).[37] Around 265 AD, the Wei Kingdom mathematician Liu Hui created a polygon-based iterative algorithm and used it with a 3,072-sided polygon to obtain a value of of 3.1416. [38][39] Liu later invented a faster method of calculating and obtained a value of 3.14 with a 96-sided polygon, by taking advantage of the fact that the differences in

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi[3/9/2012 10:32:32 AM]

Pi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

area of successive polygons form a geometric series with a factor of 4.[38] The Chinese mathematician Zu Chongzhi, around 480 AD, calculated that 355/113 (a fraction that goes by the name Mil in Chinese), using Liu Hui's algorithm applied to a 12,288-sided polygon. With a correct value for its seven first decimal digits, this value of 3.141592920... remained the most accurate approximation of available for the next 800 years. [40] The Indian astronomer Aryabhata used a value of 3.1416 in his ryabhaya (499 AD).[41] Fibonacci in c. 1220 computed 3.1418 using a polygonal method, independent of Archimedes. [42] Italian author Dante apparently employed the value
Archimedes developed the polygonal approach to approximating .

3.14142. [42]

The Persian astronomer Jamshd al-Ksh produced 16 digits in 1424 using a polygon with 32 28 sides,[43][44] which stood as the world record for about 180 years. [45] French mathematician Franois Vite in 1579 achieved 9 digits with a polygon of 32 17 sides.[45] Flemish mathematician Adriaan van Roomen arrived at 15 decimal places in 1593. [45] In 1596, Dutch mathematician Ludolph van Ceulen reached 20 digits, a record he later increased to 35 digits (as a result, was called the "Ludolphian number" in Germany until the early 20th century). [46] Dutch scientist Willebrord Snellius reached 34 digits in 1621, [47] and Austrian astronomer Christoph Grienberger arrived at 38 digits in 1630, [48] which remains the most accurate approximation manually achieved using polygonal algorithms. [47]

Infinite series
The calculation of was revolutionized by the development of infinite series techniques in the 16th and 17th centuries. An infinite series is the sum of the terms of an infinite sequence.[49] Infinite series allowed mathematicians to compute with much greater precision than Archimedes and others who used geometrical techniques. [49] Although infinite series were exploited for most notably by European mathematicians such as James Gregory and Gottfried Leibniz, the approach was first discovered in India sometime between 1400 and 1500 AD.[50] The first written description of an infinite series that could be used to compute was laid out in Sanskrit verse by Indian astronomer Nilakantha Somayaji in his Tantrasamgraha , around 1500 AD.[51] The series are presented without proof, but proofs are presented in a later Indian work, Yuktibh , from around 1530 AD. Nilakantha attributes the series to an earlier Indian mathematician, Madhava of Sangamagrama, who lived c. 1350 c. 1425. [51] Several infinite series are described, including series for sine, tangent, and cosine, which are now referred to as the Madhava series or GregoryLeibniz series .[51] Madhava used infinite series to estimate to 11 digits around 1400, but that record was beaten around 1430 by the Persian mathematician Jamshd al-Ksh , using a polygonal algorithm. [52] The first infinite sequence discovered in Europe was an infinite product (rather than an infinite sum, which are more typically used in calculations) found by French mathematician Franois Vite in 1593: [54]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi[3/9/2012 10:32:32 AM]

Pi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The second infinite sequence found in Europe, by John Wallis in 1655, was also an infinite product.[54] The discovery of calculus, by English scientist Isaac Newton and German mathematician Leibniz in the 1660s, led to the development of many infinite series for approximating . Newton himself used an arcsin series to compute a 15 digit approximation of in 1665 or 1666, later writing "I am ashamed to tell you to how many figures I carried these computations, having no other business at the time."[53] In Europe, Madhava's formula was rediscovered by Scottish mathematician James Gregory in 1671, and by Leibniz in 1674: [55][56]
Isaac Newton used infinite series to compute to 15 digits, later writing "I am ashamed to tell you to how many figures I carried these computations". [53 ]

This formula, the GregoryLeibniz series, equals

when evaluated with z = 1.[56] In 1699, English

mathematician Abraham Sharp used the GregoryLeibniz series to compute to 71 digits, breaking the previous record of 39 digits, which was set with a polygonal algorithm. [57] The GregoryLeibniz series is simple, but converges very slowly (that is, approaches the answer gradually), so it is not used in modern

calculations. [58]
In 1706 John Machin used the GregoryLeibniz series to produce an algorithm that converged much faster: [59]

Machin reached 100 digits of with this formula.[60] Other mathematicians created variants, now known as Machin-like formulae, that were used to set several successive records for digits.[60] Machin-like formulae remained the best-known method for calculating well into the age of computers, and were used to set records for 250 years, culminating in a 620-digit approximation in 1946 by Daniel Ferguson the best approximation achieved without the aid of a calculating device. [61] A remarkable record was set by the calculating prodigy Zacharias Dase, who in 1844 employed a Machin-like formula to calculate 200 decimals of in his head at the behest of German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss.[62] British mathematician William Shanks famously took 15 years to calculate to 707 digits, but made a mistake in the 528th digit, rendering all subsequent digits incorrect. [62]

Rate of convergence
Some infinite series for converge faster than others. Given the choice of two infinite series for , mathematicians will generally use the one that converges more rapidly because faster convergence reduces the amount of computation needed to calculate to any given accuracy.[63] A simple infinite series for is the GregoryLeibniz series: [64]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi[3/9/2012 10:32:32 AM]

Pi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

As individual terms of this infinite series are added to the sum, the total gradually gets closer to , and with a sufficient number of terms can get as close to as desired. It converges quite slowly, though after 500,000 terms, it produces only five correct decimal digits of .[65] An infinite series for (published by Nilakantha in the 15th century) that converges more rapidly than the GregoryLeibniz series is:[66]

The following table compares the convergence rates of these two series: After 1st term 4.0000 3.0000 After 2nd term 2.6666... 3.1666... After 3rd term 3.4666... 3.1333... After 4th term 2.8952... 3.1452... After 5th term 3.3396... 3.1396... Converges to:

Infinite series for

= 3.1415...

After five terms, the sum of the GregoryLeibniz series is within 0.2 of the correct value of , whereas the sum of Nilakantha's series is within 0.002 of the correct value of . Nilakantha's series converges faster and is more useful for computing digits of . Series that converge even faster include Machin's series and Chudnovsky's series, the latter producing 14 correct decimal digits per term.[63]

Irrationality and transcendence

Not all mathematical advances relating to were aimed at increasing the accuracy of approximations. When Euler solved the Basel problem in 1735, finding the exact value of the sum of the reciprocal squares, he established a connection between and the prime numbers that later contributed to the development and study of the Riemann zeta function:[67]

Swiss scientist Johann Heinrich Lambert in 1761 proved that is irrational, meaning it is not equal to the quotient of any two whole numbers. [8] Lambert's proof exploited a continued-fraction representation of the tangent function. [68] French mathematician Adrien-Marie Legendre proved in 1794 that 2 is also irrational. In 1882, German mathematician Ferdinand von Lindemann proved that is transcendental, confirming a conjecture made by both Legendre and Euler.[69]

Computer era and iterative algorithms

The development of computers in the mid-20th century again revolutionized the hunt for digits of . American mathematicians John Wrench and Levi Smith reached 1,120 digits in 1949 using a desk calculator. [70] Using an arctan infinite series, a team led by George Reitwiesner and John von Neumann achieved 2,037 digits with a calculation that took 70 hours of computer time on the ENIAC computer.[71] The record, always relying on arctan series, was broken repeatedly (7,480 digits in 1957; 10,000 digits in 1958; 100,000 digits in 1961) until 1 million digits was reached in 1973. [72] Two additional developments around 1980 once again accelerated the ability to compute . First, the discovery of new iterative algorithms for computing , which were much faster than the infinite series; and second, the invention of fast multiplication algorithms that could multiply large numbers very
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi[3/9/2012 10:32:32 AM]

Pi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

John von Neumann was part of the team that first used a digital computer, ENIAC, to compute .

rapidly.[73] Such algorithms are particularly important in modern

computations, because most of the computer's time is

devoted to multiplication.[74] They include the Karatsuba algorithm, ToomCook multiplication , and Fourier transform-

based methods. [75] The iterative algorithms were independently published in 19751976 by American physicist Eugene Salamin and Australian scientist Richard Brent.[76] These avoid reliance on infinite series. An iterative algorithm repeats a specific calculation, each iteration using the outputs from prior steps as its inputs, and produces a result in each step that converges to the desired value. The approach was actually invented over 160 years earlier by Carl Friedrich Gauss, in what is now termed the arithmeticgeometric mean method (AGM method) or GaussLegendre algorithm.[76] As modified by Salamin and Brent, it is also referred to as the BrentSalamin algorithm. The iterative algorithms were widely used after 1980 because they are faster than infinite series algorithms: whereas infinite series typically increase the number of correct digits additively in successive terms, iterative algorithms generally multiply the number of correct digits at each step. For example, the Brent-Salamin algorithm doubles the number of digits in each iteration. In 1984, the Canadian brothers John and Peter Borwein produced an iterative algorithm that quadruples the number of digits in each step; and in 1987, one that increases the number of digits five times in each step. [77] Iterative methods were used by Japanese mathematician Yasumasa Kanada to set several records for computing between 1995 and 2002. [78] This rapid convergence comes at a price: the iterative algorithms require significantly more memory than infinite series. [78]
The GaussLegendre iterative algorithm: Initialize

Iterate

Then an estimate for is given by

Motivations for computing

For most numerical calculations involving , a handful of digits provide sufficient precision. According to Jrg Arndt and Christoph Haenel, thirty-nine digits are sufficient to perform most cosmological calculations,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi[3/9/2012 10:32:32 AM]

Pi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

because that is the accuracy necessary to calculate the volume of the known universe with a precision of one atom. [79] Despite this, people have worked strenuously to compute to thousands and millions of digits.[80] This effort may be partly ascribed to the human compulsion to break records, and such achievements with often make headlines around the world.[81][82] They also have practical benefits, such as testing supercomputers, testing numerical analysis algorithms (including high-precision multiplication algorithms); and within pure mathematics itself, providing data for evaluating the randomness of the digits of .[83]

As mathematicians discovered new algorithms, and computers became available, the number of known decimal digits of increased dramatically.

Rapidly convergent series

Modern calculators do not use iterative algorithms exclusively. New infinite series were discovered in the 1980s and 1990s that are as fast as iterative algorithms, yet are simpler and less memory intensive.[78] The fast iterative algorithms were anticipated in 1914, when the Indian mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan published dozens of innovative new formulae for , remarkable for their elegance, mathematical depth, and rapid convergence. [84] One of his formulae, based on modular equations:

This series converges much more rapidly than most arctan series, including Machin's formula.[85] Bill Gosper was the first to use it for advances in the calculation of , setting a record of 17 million digits in 1985. [86] Ramanujan's formulae anticipated the modern algorithms developed by the Borwein brothers and the Chudnovsky brothers. [87] The Chudnovsky formula developed in 1987 is
Srinivasa Ramanujan, working in isolation in India, produced many innovative series for computing .

It produces about 14 digits of per term,[88] and has been used for several record-setting calculations, including the first to surpass (109 ) digits in 1989 by the Chudnovsky brothers, 2.7 trillion (2.710 12 ) digits by Fabrice Bellard in 2009, and 10 trillion (1013 ) digits in 2011 by Alexander Yee and Shigeru Kondo. [89][90] In 2006, Canadian mathematician Simon Plouffe used the PSLQ integer relation algorithm [91] to generate several new formulae for , conforming to the following template:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi[3/9/2012 10:32:32 AM]

Pi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

where

is e (Gelfond's constant),

is an odd number, and

are certain rational numbers that

Plouffe computed.[92]

Spigot algorithms
Two algorithms were discovered in 1995 that opened up new avenues of research into . They are called spigot algorithms because, like water dripping from a spigot, they produce single digits of that are not reused after they are calculated. [93][94] This is in contrast to infinite series or iterative algorithms, which retain and use all intermediate digits until the final result is produced.[93] American mathematicians Stan Wagon and Stanley Rabinowitz produced a simple spigot algorithm in 1995. [94][95][96] Its speed is comparable to arctan algorithms, but not as fast as iterative algorithms. [95] Another spigot algorithm, the BBP digit extraction algorithm, was discovered in 1995 by Simon Plouffe: [97][98]

This formula, unlike others before it, can produce any individual hexadecimal digit of without calculating all the preceding digits.[97] Individual octal or binary digits may be extracted from the hexadecimal digits. Variations of the algorithm have been discovered, but no digit extraction algorithm has yet been found that rapidly produces decimal digits.[99] An important application of digit extraction algorithms is to validate new claims of record computations: After a new record is claimed, the decimal result is converted to hexadecimal, and then a digit extraction algorithm is used to calculate several random hexadecimal digits near the end; if they match, this provides a measure of confidence that the entire computation is correct. [90] Between 1998 and 2000, the distributed computing project PiHex used Bellard's formula (a modification of the BBP algorithm) to compute the quadrillionth (1015 th) bit of , which turned out to be 0.[100] In September 2010, a Yahoo! employee used the company's Hadoop application on one thousand computers over a 23-day period to compute 256 bits of at the two-quadrillionth (21015 th) bit. [101]

Use
Main article: List of formulae involving Because is closely related to the circle, it is found in many formulae from the fields of geometry and trigonometry, particularly those concerning circles, spheres, or ellipses. Formulae from other branches of science also include in some of their important formulae, including sciences such as statistics, fractals, thermodynamics, mechanics, cosmology, number theory, and electromagnetism.

Geometry and trigonometry

appears in formulae for areas and volumes of geometrical shapes
based on circles, such as ellipses, spheres, cones, and tori. Some of the more common formulae that involve :[102] The circumference of a circle with radius r is The area of a circle with radius r is The volume of a sphere with radius r is The surface area of a sphere with radius r is

appears in definite integrals that describe circumference, area, or volume of shapes generated by circles. For example, an integral that

The area of the circle equals times the shaded

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi[3/9/2012 10:32:32 AM]

Pi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

specifies half the area of a circle of radius one is given by: [103]

area.

In that integral the function

represents the top half of a circle (the square root is a consequence computes the area between that half a circle and the

of the Pythagorean theorem), and the integral

x axis.
The trigonometric functions rely on angles, and mathematicians generally use radians as units of measurement. plays an important role in angles measured in radians, which are defined so that a complete circle spans an angle of 2 radians. [104] The angle measure of 180 is
Sine and cosine functions repeat with period 2 .

equal to radians, and 1 = /180 radians. [104] Common trigonometric functions have

periods that are multiples of ; for example, sine and cosine have period 2 ,[105] so for any angle and any integer k, and
[105]

Monte Carlo methods

Monte Carlo methods, which evaluate the results of multiple random trials, can be used to create approximations of .[106] Buffon's needle is one such technique: If a needle of length is dropped n times on a surface on which parallel lines are drawn t units apart, and if x of those times it comes to rest crossing a line ( x > 0), then one may approximate based on the counts:[107]
Buffon's needle. Needles a and b are dropped randomly. Random dots are placed on a square with a circle inscribed in it.

Another Monte Carlo method for computing is to draw a circle inscribed in a square, and randomly place dots in the square. The ratio of dots inside the circle to the total number of dots will approximately equal
[108]

Monte Carlo methods, based on random trials, can be used to approximate .

Monte Carlo methods for approximating are very slow compared to other methods, and are never used to approximate when speed or accuracy are desired. [109]

Complex numbers and analysis

Any complex number, say z, can be expressed using a pair of real numbers. In the polar coordinate system, one number (radius or r ) is used to represent z's distance from the origin of the complex plane and the other (angle or ) to represent a counter-clockwise rotation from the positive real line as follows: [110]

where i is the imaginary unit satisfying i 2 = 1. The frequent appearance of in complex analysis can be related to the

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi[3/9/2012 10:32:32 AM]

Pi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

behavior of the exponential function of a complex variable, described by Euler's formula:[111]

The association between imaginary powers of the number e and points on the unit circle centered at the origin in the complex plane given by Euler's formula.

where the constant e is the base of the natural logarithm. This formula establishes a correspondence between imaginary powers of e and points on the unit circle centered at the origin

of the complex plane. Setting = in Euler's formula results in Euler's identity, celebrated by mathematicians because it contains the five most important mathematical constants: [111][112]

There are n different complex numbers z satisfying unity". [113] They are given by this formula:

, and these are called the "n -th roots of

Cauchy's integral formula governs complex analytic functions and establishes an important relationship between integration and differentiation, including the remarkable fact that the values of a complex function within a closed boundary are entirely determined by the values on the boundary:[114][115]

An occurrence of in the Mandelbrot set fractal was discovered by American David Boll in 1991. [116] He examined the behavior of the Mandelbrot set near the "neck" at (0.75, 0). If points with coordinates (0.75, ) are considered, as tends to zero, the number of iterations until divergence for the point multiplied by converges to . The point (0.25, ) at the cusp of the large "valley" on the right side of the Mandelbrot set behaves similarly: the number of iterations until divergence multiplied by the square root of tends to .[116][117] can be computed from the Mandelbrot
set, by counting the number of iterations required before point (0.75, ) diverges.

The gamma function extends the concept of factorial which is normally defined only for whole numbers to all real numbers. When the gamma function is evaluated at half-integers, the result contains ; for example and for large :

.[118] The gamma function can be used to create a simple approximation to which is known as Stirling's approximation.[119]

Number theory and Riemann zeta function

The Riemann zeta function ( s ) is used in many areas of mathematics. When evaluated at written as it can be

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi[3/9/2012 10:32:32 AM]

Pi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Finding a simple solution for this infinite series was a famous problem in mathematics called the Basel problem. Leonhard Euler solved it in 1735 when he showed it was equal to .[67] Euler's result leads to the number theory result that the probability of two random numbers being relatively prime (that is, having no shared factors) is equal to .[120][121] This probability is based on the observation that the (for example, every 7th integer is divisible by probability that any number is divisible by a prime is , and the probability that 7.) Hence the probability that two numbers are both divisible by this prime is . For distinct primes, these divisibility events are mutually at least one of them is not is independent; so the probability that two numbers are relatively prime is given by a product over all primes:[122]

This probability can be used in conjunction with a random number generator to approximate using a Monte Carlo approach.[123]

Physics
Although not a physical constant, appears routinely in equations describing fundamental principles of the universe, often because of 's relationship to the circle and to spherical coordinate systems. A simple formula from the field of classical mechanics gives the approximate period T of a simple pendulum of length L , swinging with a small amplitude ( g is the earth's gravitational acceleration):[124]

One of the key formulae of quantum mechanics is Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, which shows that the uncertainty in the measurement of a particle's position ( x) and momentum ( p ) cannot both be arbitrarily small at the same time (where h is Planck's constant):[125]

In the domain of cosmology, appears in one of the fundamental formulae: Einstein's field equation, which forms the basis of the general theory of relativity and describes the fundamental interaction of gravitation as a result of spacetime being curved by matter and energy:[126]

where is the Ricci curvature tensor, is the scalar curvature, is the metric tensor, is the is Newton's gravitational constant, is the speed of light in vacuum, and cosmological constant, is the stressenergy tensor. Coulomb's law, from the discipline of electromagnetism, describes the electric field between two electric charges ( q 1 and q 2 ) separated by distance r (with 0 representing the vacuum permittivity of free space):[127]

The fact that is approximately equal to 3 plays a role in the relatively long lifetime of orthopositronium. The inverse lifetime to lowest order in the fine structure constant is given by [128] :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi[3/9/2012 10:32:32 AM]

Pi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

where m is the mass of the electron.

Probability and statistics

The fields of probability and statistics frequently use the normal distribution as a simple model for complex phenomena; for example, scientists generally assume that the observational error in most experiments follows a normal distribution. [129] is found in the Gaussian function (which is the probability density function of the normal distribution) with mean and standard deviation :[130]

The area under the graph of the normal distribution curve is given by the Gaussian integral: [130]

A graph of the Gaussian function ( x ) = e x . The colored region between . the function and the x -axis has area
2

Engineering and geology

is present in some structural engineering formulae, such as the buckling formula derived by Euler, which gives the maximum axial load F that a long, slender column of length L , modulus of elasticity E , and area moment of inertia I can carry without buckling: [131]

The field of fluid dynamics contains in Stokes' law, which approximates the frictional force F exerted on small, spherical objects of radius R , moving with velocity v in a fluid with dynamic viscosity :[132]

The Fourier transform is a mathematical operation that expresses time as a function of frequency, known as its frequency spectrum. It has many applications in physics and engineering, particularly in signal processing:[133]

Under ideal conditions (uniform gentle slope on an homogeneously erodible substrate), the sinuosity of a meandering river approaches . The sinuosity is the ratio between the actual length and the straight-line distance from source to mouth. Faster currents along the outside edges of a river's bends cause more erosion than along the inside edges, thus pushing the bends even farther out, and increasing the overall loopiness of the river. However, that loopiness eventually causes the river to double back on itself in places and "short-circuit", creating an ox-bow lake in the process. The balance between these two opposing factors leads to an average ratio of between the actual length and the direct distance between source and mouth.[134][135]

Outside the sciences

Memorizing digits
Main article: Piphilology Many persons have memorized large numbers of digits of , a practice called piphilology.[136] One
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi[3/9/2012 10:32:32 AM]

Pi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

common technique is to memorize a story or poem, in which the word-lengths represent the digits of : The first word has three letters, the second word has one, the third has four, the fourth has one, the fifth has five, and so on. An early example of a memorization aid, originally devised by English scientist James Jeans, is: "How I want a drink, alcoholic of course, after the heavy lectures involving quantum mechanics." [136] When a poem is used, it is sometimes referred to as a "piem". Poems for memorizing have been composed in several languages in addition to English. [136] The record for memorizing digits of , certified by Guinness World Records, is 67,890 digits, recited in China by Lu Chao in 24 hours and 4 minutes on 20 November 2005. [137][138] In 2006, Akira Haraguchi, a retired Japanese engineer, claimed to have recited 100,000 decimal places, but the claim was not verified by Guinness World Records. [139] Record-setting memorizers typically do not rely on poems, but instead use methods such as remembering number patterns and the method of loci. [140] A few authors have used the digits of to establish a new form of constrained writing, where the wordlengths are required to represent the digits of . The Cadaeic Cadenza contains the first 3835 digits of in this manner,[141] and the full-length book Not a Wake contains 10,000 words, each representing one digit of .[142]

In popular culture
Perhaps because of the simplicity of its definition and its ubiquitous presence in formulae, has been represented in popular culture more than other mathematical constructs. In the Palais de la Dcouverte (a science museum in Paris) there is a circular room known as the "pi room". On its wall are inscribed 707 digits of . The digits are large wooden characters attached to the dome-like ceiling. The digits were based on an 1853 calculation by English mathematician William Shanks, which included an error beginning at the 528th digit. The error was detected in 1946 and corrected in 1949. [143]
e to the u, du / dx e to the x, dx Cosine, secant, tangent, sine 3.14159 Integral, radical, mu dv Slipstick, slide rule, MIT! GOOOOOO TECH! MIT cheer [144]

Many schools in the United States observe Pi Day on 14 March (March is the third month, hence the date is

Pi Pie at Delft University

3/14). [145] and its digital representation are often used by self-described "math geeks" for inside jokes among mathematically and technologically minded groups. Several college cheers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology include "3.14159".[144] During the 2011 auction for Nortel's portfolio of valuable technology patents, Google made a series of unusually specific bids based on mathematical and scientific constants,

including .[146] Proponents of a new mathematical constant tau ( ), equal to two times , have argued that a constant based on the ratio of a circle's circumference to its radius rather than to its diameter would be more natural and would simplify many formulae. [147][148] While their proposals, which include celebrating 28 June as "Tau Day", have been reported in the media, they have not been reflected in the scientific literature. [149][150] In Carl Sagan's novel Contact it is suggested that the creator of the universe buried a message deep within the digits of .[151] The digits of have also been incorporated into the lyrics of the song "Pi" from the album Aerial by Kate Bush,[152] and a song by Hard 'n Phirm.[153] In 1897, an amateur mathematician attempted to persuade the Indiana legislature to pass the Indiana Pi Bill, which described a method to square the circle, and contained text which assumes various incorrect values of , including 3.2. The bill is notorious as an attempt to establish scientific truth by legislative fiat.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi[3/9/2012 10:32:32 AM]

Pi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The bill was passed by the Indiana House of Representatives, but rejected by the Senate.[154] In the Doctor Who episode "Midnight", the Doctor encounters the Midnight Entity that takes over the body of various characters. The character Sky Silvestry when taken over mimics the speech patterns of The Doctor by repeating, in synchronism, pi to 30 decimal places. [155] This involved the actors David Tennant and Leslie Sharp learning the sequence to be able to repeat it.

See also
List of numbers Irrational and suspected irrational numbers (3) 2 3 5 S e

Notes
1. ^ a b c Arndt & Haenel 2006, p. 8 2. ^ Rudin, Walter (1976). Principles of Mathematical Analysis. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07054235-X., p 183. 3. ^ Holton, David; Mackridge, Peter (2004). Greek: an Essential Grammar of the Modern Language . Routledge. ISBN 0-415-23210-4., p. xi. 4. ^ "pi" . Dictionary.reference.com. 2 March 1993. Retrieved 18 June 2012. 5. ^ Arndt & Haenel 2006, p. 165. A facsimile of Jones' text is in Berggren, Borwein & Borwein 1997, pp. 108109 6. ^ See Schepler 1950, p. 220: William Oughtred used the letter to represent the periphery (i.e., circumference) of a circle. 7. ^ a b c d e Arndt & Haenel 2006, p. 166 8. ^ a b Arndt & Haenel 2006, p. 5 9. ^ Salikhov, V. (2008). "On the Irrationality Measure of pi". Russian Mathematical Survey 53 (3): 570. Bibcode 2008RuMaS..63..570S . doi:10.1070/RM2008v063n03ABEH004543 . 10. ^ Mayer, Steve. "The Transcendence of " . Retrieved 4 November 2007. 11. ^ The polynomial shown is the first few terms of the Taylor series expansion of the sine function. 12. ^ Posamentier & Lehmann 2004, p. 25 13. ^ Eymard & Lafon 1999, p. 129 14. ^ Beckmann 1989, p. 37 Schlager, Neil; Lauer, Josh (2001). Science and Its Times: Understanding the Social Significance of Scientific Discovery. Gale Group. ISBN 0-78763933-8., p 185. 15. ^ a b Arndt & Haenel 2006, pp. 2223 Preuss, Paul (23 July 2001). "Are The Digits of Pi Random? Lab Researcher May Hold The Key" . Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Retrieved 10 November 2007. 16. ^ Arndt & Haenel 2006, pp. 22, 2830 17. ^ Arndt & Haenel 2006, p. 3 18. ^ a b Eymard & Lafon 1999, p. 78 19. ^ Sloane's A001203 : Continued fraction for Pi . 31. ^ Arndt & Haenel 2006, p. 170 32. ^ Arndt & Haenel 2006, pp. 175, 205 33. ^ a b Arndt & Haenel 2006, pp. 170171 34. ^ Arndt & Haenel 2006, p. 171 35. ^ Arndt & Haenel 2006, p. 176 Boyer & Merzbach 1991, p. 168 36. ^ Arndt & Haenel 2006, pp. 1516, 175, 184 186, 205. Grienberger achieved 39 digits in 1630; Sharp 71 digits in 1699. 37. ^ Arndt & Haenel 2006, pp. 176177 38. 39. 40. 41. ^ a b Boyer & Merzbach 1991, p. 202 ^ Arndt & Haenel 2006, p. 177 ^ Arndt & Haenel 2006, p. 178 ^ Arndt & Haenel 2006, pp. 179

42. ^ a b Arndt & Haenel 2006, pp. 180 43. ^ Azarian, Mohammad K. (2010), "al-Risla almuhtyya: A Summary" (PDF), Missouri Journal of Mathematical Sciences 22 (2): 6485 . 44. ^ OConnor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F. (1999), "Ghiyath al-Din Jamshid Mas'ud alKashi" , MacTutor History of Mathematics archive, retrieved August 11, 2012. 45. ^ a b c Arndt & Haenel 2006, p. 182 46. ^ Arndt & Haenel 2006, pp. 182183 47. ^ a b Arndt & Haenel 2006, p. 183 48. ^ Grienbergerus, Christophorus (1630) (in Latin) . His (PDF). Elementa Trigonometrica evaluation was 3.14159 26535 89793 23846 26433 83279 50288 4196 < < 3.14159 26535 89793 23846 26433 83279 50288 4199. 49. ^ a b Arndt & Haenel 2006, pp. 185191 50. ^ Roy 1990, pp. 101102 Arndt & Haenel 2006, pp. 185186 51. ^ a b c Roy 1990, pp. 101102 52. ^ Joseph 1991, p. 264 53. ^ a b Arndt & Haenel 2006, p. 188. Newton quoted by Arndt. 54. ^ a b Arndt & Haenel 2006, p. 187 55. ^ Arndt & Haenel 2006, pp. 188189 56. ^ a b Eymard & Lafon 1999, pp. 5354

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi[3/9/2012 10:32:32 AM]

Pi - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia The On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences. OEIS Foundation. Retrieved 12 April 2012. 20. ^ Lange, L. J. (May 1999). "An Elegant Continued Fraction for ". The American Mathematical Monthly 106 (5): 456458. doi:10.2307/2589152 . JSTOR 2589152 . 21. ^ Arndt & Haenel 2006, p. 240 22. ^ Arndt & Haenel 2006, p. 242 23. ^ "We can conclude that although the ancient Egyptians could not precisely define the value of , in practice they used it". Verner, M. (2003). The Pyramids: Their Archaeology and History ., p. 70. Petrie (1940). Wisdom of the Egyptians., p. 30. See also Legon, J. A. R. (1991). "On Pyramid Dimensions and Proportions" . Discussions in Egyptology 20 : 2534 .. See also Petrie, W. M. F. (1925). "Surveys of the Great Pyramids". Nature Journal 116 (2930): 942942. Bibcode 1925Natur.116..942P . doi:10.1038/116942a0 . 24. ^ Egyptologist: Rossi, Corinna, Architecture and Mathematics in Ancient Egypt, Cambridge University Press, 2004, pp 6070, 200, ISBN 9780521829540. Skeptics: Shermer, Michael, The Skeptic Encyclopedia of Pseudoscience , ABC-CLIO, 2002, pp 407408, ISBN 9781576076538. See also Fagan, Garrett G., Archaeological Fantasies: How Pseudoarchaeology Misrepresents The Past and Misleads the Public, Routledge, 2006, ISBN 9780415305938. For a list of explanations for the shape that do not involve , see Roger Herz-Fischler (2000), The Shape of the Great Pyramid , Wilfrid Laurier University Press, pp. 6777, 165166, ISBN 9780889203242 Arndt & Haenel 2006, p. 167 ^ ^ Arndt & Haenel 2006, pp. 168169 ^ Arndt & Haenel 2006, p. 169 ^ The verses are 1 Kings 7:23 and 2 Chronicles 4:2 ; see Arndt & Haenel 2006, p. 169, Schepler 1950, p. 165, and Beckmann 1989, pp. 1416. 29. ^ Suggestions that the pool had a hexagonal shape or an outward curving rim have been offered to explain the disparity. See Borwein, Jonathan M.; Bailey, David H. (2008). Mathematics by Experiment: Plausible Reasoning in the 21st century (revised 2nd ed.). A. K. Peters. ISBN 978-1-56881-442-1., pp. 103, 136, 137. 25. 26. 27. 28. 30. ^ James A. Arieti, Patrick A. Wilson (2003). The Scientific & the Divine . Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 910. ISBN 9780742513976.
ab

57. ^ Arndt & Haenel 2006, p. 189 58. ^ Arndt & Haenel 2006, p. 156 59. ^ Arndt & Haenel 2006, pp. 192193 60. ^ a b Arndt & Haenel 2006, pp. 7274 61. ^ Arndt & Haenel 2006, pp. 192196, 205 62. ^ a b Arndt & Haenel 2006, pp. 194196 63. ^ a b Borwein, J. M.; Borwein, P. B. (1988). "Ramanujan and Pi". Scientific American 256 (2): 112117. Bibcode 1988SciAm.258b.112B . doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0288-112 . Arndt & Haenel 2006, pp. 1517, 7072, 104, 156, 192197, 201202 64. ^ Arndt & Haenel 2006, pp. 6972 65. ^ Borwein, J. M.; Borwein, P. B.; Dilcher, K. (1989). "Pi, Euler Numbers, and Asymptotic Expansions". American Mathematical Monthly 96 (8): 681687. doi:10.2307/2324715 . 66. ^ Arndt & Haenel 2006, p. 223, (formula 16.10). Note that (n 1) n(n + 1) = n3 n. Wells, David (1997). The Penguin Dictionary of Curious and Interesting Numbers (revised ed.). Penguin. p. 35. ISBN 978-0-140-26149-3. 67. ^ a b Posamentier & Lehmann 2004, pp. 284 68. ^ Lambert, Johann, "Mmoire sur quelques proprits remarquables des quantits transcendantes circulaires et logarithmiques", reprinted in Berggren, Borwein & Borwein 1997, pp. 129140 69. ^ Arndt & Haenel 2006, p. 196 70. ^ Arndt & Haenel 2006, pp. 205 71. ^ Arndt & Haenel 2006, p. 197. See also Reitwiesner 1950. 72. ^ Arndt & Haenel 2006, p. 197 73. ^ Arndt & Haenel 2006, pp. 1517 74. ^ Arndt & Haenel 2006, pp. 131 75. ^ Arndt & Haenel 2006, pp. 132, 140 76. ^ a b Arndt & Haenel 2006, p. 87 77. ^ Arndt & Haenel 2006, pp. 111 (5 times); pp. 113114 (4 times). See Borwein & Borwein 1987 for details of algorithms. 78. ^ a b c Bailey, David H. (16 May 2003). "Some Background on Kanadas Recent Pi Calculation" . Retrieved 12 April 2012. 79. ^ Arndt & Haenel 2006, p. 17. "39 digits of are sufficient to calculate the volume of the universe to the nearest atom." Accounting for additional digits needed to compensate for computational round-off errors, Arndt concludes that a few hundred digits would suffice for any scientific application. 80. ^ Arndt & Haenel 2006, pp. 1719 81. ^ Schudel, Matt (25 March 2009). "John W. Wrench, Jr.: Mathematician Had a Taste for

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pi[3/9/2012 10:32:32 AM]