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Try to beat these MRB constant records!

POSTED BY:

Marvin Ray Burns, and distinguished colleagues


The MRB constant, a fascinating mathematical anomaly, has intrigued researchers and enthusiasts alike for decades. Defined as the limiting value of a unique alternating series, this enigmatic constant showcases the beauty of numerical exploration and convergence. Despite its relatively recent emergence, the MRB constant reveals unexpected connections to various fields within mathematics and computational analysis. In this post, we dive into its origins, properties, and the ongoing quest to uncover its more profound significance. The MRB constant is an anomaly because it emerges from an alternating series with unusual convergence behavior. Unlike many well-known mathematical constants, the MRB constant has no closed-form expression nor a known exact nature—whether it is algebraic, transcendental, or even irrational. Additionally, the sequence of partial sums that define the MRB constant oscillates between two limit points, creating a bounded yet divergent behavior. This oscillatory nature distinguishes it from more conventional mathematical constants, which typically exhibit straightforward convergence. Its mysterious properties continue to intrigue mathematicians as they explore its deeper connections to number theory and computational analysis.



CMRB If you see this instead of an image, reload the page

is the MRB constant.

Studying the MRB constant's place in mathematics can introduce one to the following:


Number Theory
The study of integers and their properties, including prime numbers. The discovery of large primes is a monumental task that involves deep number theoretic concepts and advanced computational techniques.

Behavior of Series and Sequences
Understanding how series and sequences behave, converge, or diverge is fundamental in mathematical analysis. This includes the study of oscillatory sums and their limit points, which is directly related to the investigation of the MRB constant.

Dirichlet Eta Function and Its Derivatives
The Dirichlet eta function, a variant of the Riemann zeta function, plays a crucial role in analytic number theory. Its properties and derivatives have implications for the MRB constant and other mathematical phenomena.

Limit Points and Oscillatory Sums
Investigating the limit points within oscillatory sums involves understanding how sequences and series approach their limits, which is essential in various fields of mathematics.
The MRB constant's exploration touches on all these areas, revealing the interconnectedness of different mathematical concepts. It's a testament to how seemingly disparate areas of mathematics can come together to uncover new insights and deepen our understanding of the mathematical universe.

So, in the spirit of Leopold Kronecker, a German mathematician and logician who famously said, what translates to "God made the integers, all the rest is the work of man":

Here are a few fundamental constants that were once considered novel discoveries:
- φ (Golden Ratio): Known to the ancient Greeks, it gained prominence in art, architecture, and mathematics over time.
- π (Pi): π has been known since ancient times, but its significance and applications were fully appreciated much later.

Euler's Number (e)
Discovered by Jacob Bernoulli in his studies of compound interest, this number became a cornerstone in calculus and mathematical analysis. It's fundamental to growth models, logarithms, and many branches of mathematics.

Imaginary Unit (i)
Introduced by René Descartes, this constant initially faced skepticism but later became indispensable in complex analysis and engineering. It represents the square root of -1, opening doors to understanding dimensions beyond the real world.

Euler-Mascheroni Constant (γ)
Defined as the limiting difference between the harmonic series and the natural logarithm, this constant was introduced by Leonhard Euler in the 18th century. It appears in areas such as number theory and analysis, enriching the mathematical landscape.

I hope that within this discussion, we will find that the MRB constant is also becoming an essential part.







19 Replies

CONSTRUCTING THE MRB CONSTANT IN MATHEMATICA

Let

Click here<- for some basic constructs of the MRB constant and what is called its integrated analog. That is an integral of f(z) over the right half-plane of cos(Pi*z)(z^(1/z)-1).



Unlikely-looking constructions for the MRB constant

In 2012, a rapidly convergent pair of series for CMRB (S) was discovered using Series and Functional Definition Optimization by the then Chief cryptographer of Apple Computer, Dr. Crandall. Following his passing, his estate sent me a little of his Mathematica work to derive it. I built upon it below.

$$\begin{align*} S &= \sum_{m \ge 1} \frac{(-1)^m}{m!} \eta^{(m)}(m), \\ \\ S &= \sum_{m \ge 1} \frac{c_m}{m!} \eta^{(m)}(0), \\ \\ \text{where the $c$ coefficients are defined}\\\ c_j &:= \sum_{d=1}^{j} \binom{j}{d} (-1)^d d^{j-d}. \end{align*}$$

Since Crandal died before publishing his proof, I tried to prove it and eventually asked my readers for help. Finally, Gottfried Helms proved one publicly:

Gottfried Helms

Note: because of this, the MRB constant sum prototype, can be split into an asymptotic component and a remainder, and these components together reconstruct the original series, converging to the MRB constant

Geometrically Constructing the MRB Constant

With the Wolfram Assistant

Distribution of MRB constant digits as given in all record calculations

Here is the distribution of digits within the first 6,000,000 decimal places (.187859,,,), "4" shows up more than other digits, followed by "0," "8" and "7."

enter image description here

Here is the distribution of digits within the first 5,000,000 decimal places (.187859,,,), "4" shows up a lot more than other digits, followed by "0," "8" and "6." enter image description here

Here is a similar distribution over the first 4,000,000: enter image description here

3,000,000 digits share a similar distribution:

enter image description here

Over the first 2 and 1 million digits "4" was not so well represented. So, the heavy representation of "4" is shown to be a growing phenomenon from 2 million to 5 million digits. However, "1,2,and 5" still made a very poor showing: enter image description here

I attached more than 6,000,000 digits of the MRB constant.

I calculated 6,500,000 digits of the MRB constant!!

The MRB constant supercomputer said,

Finished on Wed 16 Mar 2022 02 : 02 : 10. Processor and actual time were 6.2662810^6 and 1.6026403541959210^7 s.respectively Enter MRB1 to print 6532491 digits. The error from a 6, 000, 000 or more digit calculation that used a different method is 0.*10^-6029992

"Processor time" 72.526 days

"Actual time" 185.491 days

For the digits see the attached 6p5millionMRB.nb. For the documentation of the computation see 2nd 6p5 million.nb.

02/12/2019

Using my 2 nodes of the MRB constant supercomputer (3.7 GH overclocked up to 4.7 GH, Intel 6core, 3000MH RAM,and 4 cores from my 3.6 GH, 2400MH RAM) I computed 34,517 digits of the MRB constant using Crandall's first eta formula:

prec = 35000;
to = SessionTime[];
etaMM[m_, pr_] := 
  Block[{a, s, k, b, c}, 
   a[j_] := (SetPrecision[Log[j + 1], prec]/(j + 1))^m;
   {b, c, s} = {-1, -d, 0};
   Do[c = b - c;
    s = s + c a[k];
    b = (k + n) (k - n) b/((k + 1) (k + 1/2)), {k, 0, n - 1}];
   Return[N[s/d, pr] (-1)^m]];
eta1 = N[EulerGamma Log[2] - Log[2]^2/2, prec]; n = 
 Floor[132/100 prec]; d = N[ChebyshevT[n, 3], prec];
MRBtest = 
  eta1 - Total[
    ParallelCombine[((Cos[Pi #]) etaMM[#, prec]/
         N[Gamma[# + 1], prec]) &, Range[2, Floor[.250 prec]], 
     Method -> "CoarsestGrained"]];
Print[N[MRBtest2 - MRBtest,10]];

SessionTime[] - to

giving -2.166803252*10^-34517 for a difference and 208659.2864422 seconds or 2.415 days for a timing.

Where MRBtest2 is 36000 digits computed through acceleration methods of n^(1/n)

3/28/2019

Here is an updated table of speed eta formula records: eta records 12 31 18

04/03/2019

Using my 2 nodes of the MRB constant supercomputer (3.7 GH overclocked up to 4.7 GH, Intel 6core, 3000MH RAM,and 4 cores from my 3.6 GH, 2400MH RAM) I computed 50,000 digits of the MRB constant using Crandall's first eta formula in 5.79 days.

 prec = 50000;
to = SessionTime[];
etaMM[m_, pr_] := 
  Module[{a, s, k, b, c}, 
   a[j_] := 
    SetPrecision[SetPrecision[Log[j + 1]/(j + 1), prec]^m, prec];
   {b, c, s} = {-1, -d, 0};
   Do[c = b - c;
    s = s + c a[k];
    b = (k + n) (k - n) b/((k + 1) (k + 1/2)), {k, 0, n - 1}];
   Return[N[s/d, pr] (-1)^m]];
eta1 = N[EulerGamma Log[2] - Log[2]^2/2, prec]; n = 
 Floor[132/100 prec]; d = N[ChebyshevT[n, 3], prec];
MRBtest = 
  eta1 - Total[
    ParallelCombine[((Cos[Pi #]) etaMM[#, prec]/
         N[Gamma[# + 1], prec]) &, Range[2, Floor[.245 prec]], 
     Method -> "CoarsestGrained"]];
Print[N[MRBtest2 - MRBtest, 10]];

SessionTime[] - to

 (* 0.*10^-50000

  500808.4835750*)

4/22/2019

Let $$M=\sum _{n=1}^{\infty } \frac{(-1)^{n+1} \eta ^n(n)}{n!}=\sum _{n=1}^{\infty } (-1)^n \left(n^{1/n}-1\right).$$ Then using what I learned about the absolute convergence of $\sum _{n=1}^{\infty } \frac{(-1)^{n+1} \eta ^n(n)}{n!}$ from https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/1673886/is-there-a-more-rigorous-way-to-show-these-two-sums-are-exactly-equal, combined with an identity from Richard Crandall: enter image description here, Also using what Mathematica says:

$$\sum _{n=1}^1 \frac{\underset{m\to 1}{\text{lim}} \eta ^n(m)}{n!}=\gamma (2 \log )-\frac{2 \log ^2}{2},$$

I figured out that

$$\sum _{n=2}^{\infty } \frac{(-1)^{n+1} \eta ^n(n)}{n!}=\sum _{n=1}^{\infty } (-1)^n \left(n^{1/n}-\frac{\log (n)}{n}-1\right).$$

So I made the following major breakthrough in computing MRB from Candall's first eta formula. See attached 100 k eta 4 22 2019. Also shown below.

eta 18 to19 n 2.JPG

The time grows 10,000 times slower than the previous method!

I broke a new record, 100,000 digits: Processor and total time were 806.5 and 2606.7281972 s respectively.. See attached 2nd 100 k eta 4 22 2019.

Here is the work from 100,000 digits. enter image description here

Print["Start time is ", ds = DateString[], "."];
prec = 100000;
(**Number of required decimals.*.*)ClearSystemCache[];
T0 = SessionTime[];
expM[pre_] := 
  Module[{a, d, s, k, bb, c, end, iprec, xvals, x, pc, cores = 16(*=4*
    number of physical cores*), tsize = 2^7, chunksize, start = 1, ll,
     ctab, pr = Floor[1.005 pre]}, chunksize = cores*tsize;
   n = Floor[1.32 pr];
   end = Ceiling[n/chunksize];
   Print["Iterations required: ", n];
   Print["Will give ", end, 
    " time estimates, each more accurate than the previous."];
   Print["Will stop at ", end*chunksize, 
    " iterations to ensure precsion of around ", pr, 
    " decimal places."]; d = ChebyshevT[n, 3];
   {b, c, s} = {SetPrecision[-1, 1.1*n], -d, 0};
   iprec = Ceiling[pr/27];
   Do[xvals = Flatten[ParallelTable[Table[ll = start + j*tsize + l;
        x = N[E^(Log[ll]/(ll)), iprec];
        pc = iprec;
        While[pc < pr/4, pc = Min[3 pc, pr/4];
         x = SetPrecision[x, pc];
         y = x^ll - ll;
         x = x (1 - 2 y/((ll + 1) y + 2 ll ll));];(**N[Exp[Log[ll]/
        ll],pr/4]**)x = SetPrecision[x, pr];
        xll = x^ll; z = (ll - xll)/xll;
        t = 2 ll - 1; t2 = t^2;
        x = 
         x*(1 + SetPrecision[4.5, pr] (ll - 1)/
              t2 + (ll + 1) z/(2 ll t) - 
            SetPrecision[13.5, pr] ll (ll - 1) 1/(3 ll t2 + t^3 z));(**
        N[Exp[Log[ll]/ll],pr]**)x, {l, 0, tsize - 1}], {j, 0, 
        cores - 1}, Method -> "EvaluationsPerKernel" -> 32]];
    ctab = ParallelTable[Table[c = b - c;
       ll = start + l - 2;
       b *= 2 (ll + n) (ll - n)/((ll + 1) (2 ll + 1));
       c, {l, chunksize}], Method -> "EvaluationsPerKernel" -> 16];
    s += ctab.(xvals - 1);
    start += chunksize;
    st = SessionTime[] - T0; kc = k*chunksize;
    ti = (st)/(kc + 10^-4)*(n)/(3600)/(24);
    If[kc > 1, 
     Print[kc, " iterations done in ", N[st, 4], " seconds.", 
      " Should take ", N[ti, 4], " days or ", N[ti*24*3600, 4], 
      "s, finish ", DatePlus[ds, ti], "."]];, {k, 0, end - 1}];
   N[-s/d, pr]];
t2 = Timing[MRB = expM[prec];]; Print["Finished on ", 
 DateString[], ". Proccessor time was ", t2[[1]], " s."];
Print["Enter MRBtest2 to print ", Floor[Precision[MRBtest2]], 
  " digits"];


 (Start time is )^2Tue 23 Apr 2019 06:49:31.

 Iterations required: 132026

 Will give 65 time estimates, each more accurate than the previous.

 Will stop at 133120 iterations to ensure precsion of around 100020 decimal places.

 Denominator computed in  17.2324041s.

...

129024 iterations done in 1011. seconds. Should take 0.01203 days or 1040.s, finish Mon 22 Apr 
2019 12:59:16.

131072 iterations done in 1026. seconds. Should take 0.01202 days or 1038.s, finish Mon 22 Apr 
2019 12:59:15.

Finished on Mon 22 Apr 2019 12:59:03. Processor time was 786.797 s.

enter image description here

 Print["Start time is " "Start time is ", ds = DateString[], "."];
 prec = 100000;
 (**Number of required decimals.*.*)ClearSystemCache[];
 T0 = SessionTime[];
 expM[pre_] := 
   Module[{lg, a, d, s, k, bb, c, end, iprec, xvals, x, pc, cores = 16(*=
     4*number of physical cores*), tsize = 2^7, chunksize, start = 1, 
     ll, ctab, pr = Floor[1.0002 pre]}, chunksize = cores*tsize;
    n = Floor[1.32 pr];
    end = Ceiling[n/chunksize];
    Print["Iterations required: ", n];
    Print["Will give ", end, 
     " time estimates, each more accurate than the previous."];
    Print["Will stop at ", end*chunksize, 
     " iterations to ensure precsion of around ", pr, 
     " decimal places."]; d = ChebyshevT[n, 3];
    {b, c, s} = {SetPrecision[-1, 1.1*n], -d, 0};
    iprec = pr/2^6;
    Do[xvals = Flatten[ParallelTable[Table[ll = start + j*tsize + l;
         lg = Log[ll]/(ll); x = N[E^(lg), iprec];
         pc = iprec;
         While[pc < pr, pc = Min[4 pc, pr];
          x = SetPrecision[x, pc];
          xll = x^ll; z = (ll - xll)/xll;
          t = 2 ll - 1; t2 = t^2;
          x = 
           x*(1 + SetPrecision[4.5, pc] (ll - 1)/
                t2 + (ll + 1) z/(2 ll t) - 
              SetPrecision[13.5, 2 pc] ll (ll - 1)/(3 ll t2 + t^3 z))];
          x - lg, {l, 0, tsize - 1}], {j, 0, cores - 1}, 
        Method -> "EvaluationsPerKernel" -> 16]];
     ctab = ParallelTable[Table[c = b - c;
        ll = start + l - 2;
        b *= 2 (ll + n) (ll - n)/((ll + 1) (2 ll + 1));
        c, {l, chunksize}], Method -> "EvaluationsPerKernel" -> 16];
     s += ctab.(xvals - 1);
     start += chunksize;
     st = SessionTime[] - T0; kc = k*chunksize;
     ti = (st)/(kc + 10^-10)*(n)/(3600)/(24);
     If[kc > 1, 
      Print[kc, " iterations done in ", N[st - stt, 4], " seconds.", 
       " Should take ", N[ti, 4], " days or ", ti*3600*24, 
       "s, finish ", DatePlus[ds, ti], "."], 
      Print["Denominator computed in  ", stt = st, "s."]];, {k, 0, 
      end - 1}];
    N[-s/d, pr]];
 t2 = Timing[MRBeta2toinf = expM[prec];]; Print["Finished on ", 
  DateString[], ". Processor and total time were ", 
  t2[[1]], " and ", st, " s respectively."];

Start time is  Tue 23 Apr 2019 06:49:31.

Iterations required: 132026

Will give 65 time estimates, each more accurate than the previous.

Will stop at 133120 iterations to ensure precision of around 100020 decimal places.

Denominator computed in  17.2324041s.

...

131072 iterations done in 2589. seconds. Should take 0.03039 days or 2625.7011182s, finish Tue 23 Apr 2019 07:33:16.

Finished on Tue 23 Apr 2019 07:32:58. Processor and total time were 806.5 and 2606.7281972 s respectively.

enter image description here

 MRBeta1 = EulerGamma Log[2] - 1/2 Log[2]^2

 EulerGamma Log[2] - Log[2]^2/2

enter image description here

   N[MRBeta2toinf + MRBeta1 - MRB, 10]

   1.307089967*10^-99742

nice system!

POSTED BY: l van Veen

The new sum is this.

Sum[(-1)^(k + 1)*(-1 + (1 + k)^(1/(1 + k)) - Log[1 + k]/(1 + k) - 
         Log[1 + k]^2/(2*(1 + k)^2)), {k, 0, Infinity}] 

That appears to be the same as for MRB except now we subtract two terms from the series expansion at the origin of k^(1/k). For each k these terms are Log[k]/k + 1/2*(Log[k]/k)^2. Accounting for the signs (-1)^k and summing, as I did earlier for just that first term, we get something recognizable.

Sum[(-1)^(k)*(Log[k]/(k) + Log[k]^2/(2*k^2)), {k, 1, Infinity}]

(* Out[21]= 1/24 (24 EulerGamma Log[2] - 2 EulerGamma \[Pi]^2 Log[2] - 
   12 Log[2]^2 - \[Pi]^2 Log[2]^2 + 24 \[Pi]^2 Log[2] Log[Glaisher] - 
   2 \[Pi]^2 Log[2] Log[\[Pi]] - 6 (Zeta^\[Prime]\[Prime])[2]) *)

So what does this buy us? For one thing, we get even better convergence from brute force summation, because now our largest terms are O((logk/k)^3) and alternating (which means if we sum in pairs it's actually O~(1/k^4) with O~ denoting the "soft-oh" wherein one drops polylogarithmic factors).

How helpful is this? Certainly it cannot hurt. But even with 1/k^4 size terms, it takes a long time to get even 40 digits, let alone thousands. So there is more going on in that Crandall approach.

POSTED BY: Daniel Lichtblau

Daniel Lichtblau and others, I just deciphered an Identity Crandall used for checking computations of the MRB constant just before he died. It is used in a previous post about checking, where I said it was hard to follow. The MRB constant is B here. B=`enter image description here In input form that is

   B= Sum[(-1)^(k + 1)*(-1 + (1 + k)^(1/(1 + k)) - Log[1 + k]/(1 + k) - 
         Log[1 + k]^2/(2*(1 + k)^2)), {k, 0, Infinity}] + 
     1/24 (\[Pi]^2 Log[2]^2 - 
        2 \[Pi]^2 Log[
          2] (EulerGamma + Log[2] - 12 Log[Glaisher] + Log[\[Pi]]) - 
        6 (Zeta^\[Prime]\[Prime])[2]) + 
     1/2 (2 EulerGamma Log[2] - Log[2]^2)

For 3000 digit numeric approximation, it is

B=NSum[((-1)^(
    k + 1) (-1 + (1 + k)^(1/(1 + k)) - Log[1 + k]/(1 + k) - 
      Log[1 + k]^2/(2 (1 + k)^2))), {k, 0, Infinity}, 
  Method -> "AlternatingSigns", WorkingPrecision -> 3000] + 
 1/24 (\[Pi]^2 Log[2]^2 - 
    2 \[Pi]^2 Log[
      2] (EulerGamma + Log[2] - 12 Log[Glaisher] + Log[\[Pi]]) - 
    6 (Zeta^\[Prime]\[Prime])[2]) + 
 1/2 (2 EulerGamma Log[2] - Log[2]^2)

It is anylitaclly straight forward too because

Sum[(-1)^(k + 1)*Log[1 + k]^2/(2 (1 + k)^2), {k, 0, Infinity}]

gives

1/24 (-\[Pi]^2 (Log[2]^2 + EulerGamma Log[4] - 
      24 Log[2] Log[Glaisher] + Log[4] Log[\[Pi]]) - 
   6 (Zeta^\[Prime]\[Prime])[2])

That is enter image description here I wonder why he chose it?

The identity in question is straightforward. Write n^(1/n) as Exp[Log[n]/n], take a series expansion at 0, and subtract the first term from all summands. That means subtracting off Log[n]/n in each summand. This gives your left hand side. We know it must be M - the sum of the terms we subtracted off. Now add all of them up, accounting for signs.

Expand[Sum[(-1)^n*Log[n]/n, {n, 1, Infinity}]]

(* Out[74]= EulerGamma Log[2] - Log[2]^2/2 *)

So we recover the right hand side.

I have not understood whether this identity helps with Crandall's iteration. One advantage it confers, a good one in general, is that it converts a conditionally convergent alternating series into one that is absolutely convergent. From a numerical computation point of view this is always good.

POSTED BY: Daniel Lichtblau

Crandall is not using his eta formulas directly!!!!!!! He computes Sum[(-1)^k*(k^(1/k) - 1), {k, 1, Infinity}] directly!

Going back to Crandall's code:

(*Fastest (at RC's end) as of 30 Nov 2012.*)prec = 500000;(*Number of \
required decimals.*)ClearSystemCache[];
T0 = SessionTime[];
expM[pre_] := 
  Module[{a, d, s, k, bb, c, n, end, iprec, xvals, x, pc, cores = 4, 
    tsize = 2^7, chunksize, start = 1, ll, ctab, 
    pr = Floor[1.02 pre]}, chunksize = cores*tsize;
   n = Floor[1.32 pr];
   end = Ceiling[n/chunksize];
   Print["Iterations required: ", n];
   Print["end ", end];
   Print[end*chunksize];
   d = N[(3 + Sqrt[8])^n, pr + 10];
   d = Round[1/2 (d + 1/d)];
   {b, c, s} = {SetPrecision[-1, 1.1*n], -d, 0};
   iprec = Ceiling[pr/27];
   Do[xvals = Flatten[ParallelTable[Table[ll = start + j*tsize + l;
        x = N[E^(Log[ll]/(ll)), iprec];
        pc = iprec;
        While[pc < pr, pc = Min[3 pc, pr];
         x = SetPrecision[x, pc];
         y = x^ll - ll;
         x = x (1 - 2 y/((ll + 1) y + 2 ll ll));];(*N[Exp[Log[ll]/ll],
        pr]*)x, {l, 0, tsize - 1}], {j, 0, cores - 1}, 
       Method -> "EvaluationsPerKernel" -> 1]];
    ctab = Table[c = b - c;
      ll = start + l - 2;
      b *= 2 (ll + n) (ll - n)/((ll + 1) (2 ll + 1));
      c, {l, chunksize}];
    s += ctab.(xvals - 1);
    start += chunksize;
    Print["done iter ", k*chunksize, " ", SessionTime[] - T0];, {k, 0,
      end - 1}];
   N[-s/d, pr]];

t2 = Timing[MRBtest2 = expM[prec];];
MRBtest2 - MRBtest3

x = N[E^(Log[ll]/(ll)), iprec]; Gives k^(1/k) to only Ceiling[pr/27]; decimal places; they are either 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 or 1.4 (usually 1.1 or 1.0 for the first 27 desired decimals.) On the other hand,

While[pc < pr, pc = Min[3 pc, pr];
 x = SetPrecision[x, pc];
 y = x^ll - ll;
 x = x (1 - 2 y/((ll + 1) y + 2 ll ll));],

takes the short precision x and gives it the necessary precision and accuracy for k^(1/k) (k Is ll there.) It actually computes k^(1/k). Then he remarks, "(N[Exp[Log[ll]/ll], pr])."

After finding a fast way to compute k^(1/k) to necessary precision he uses Cohen's algorithm 1 (See a screenshot in a previous post.) to accelerate convergence of Sum[(-1)^k*(k^(1/k) - 1), {k, 1, Infinity}]. That is his secret!!

As I mentioned in a previous post the "MRBtest2 - MRBtest3" is for checking with a known-to-be accurate approximation to the MRB constant, MRBtest3

I'm just excited that I figured it out! as you can tell.

Nice work. Worth a bit of excitement, I' d say.

POSTED BY: Daniel Lichtblau

I can't say I understand either. My guess is the Eta stuff comes from summing (-1)^k*(Log[k]/k)^n over k, as those are the terms that appear in the double sum you get from expanding k^(1/k)-1 in powers of Log[k]/k (use k^(1/k)=Exp[Log[k]/k] and the power series for Exp). Even if it does come from this the details remain elusive..

POSTED BY: Daniel Lichtblau

What Richard Crandall and maybe others did to come up with that method is really good and somewhat mysterious. I still don't really understand the inner workings, and I had shown him how to parallelize it. So the best I can say is that it's really hard to compete against magic. (I don't want to discourage others, I'm just explaining why I myself would be reluctant to tackle this. Someone less familiar might actually have a better chance of breaking new ground.)

In a way this should be good news. Should it ever become "easy" to compute, the MRB number would lose what is perhaps its biggest point of interest. It just happens to be on that cusp of tantalizingly "close" to easily computable (perhaps as sums of zeta function and derivatives thereof), yet still hard enough that it takes a sophisticated scheme to get more than a few dozen digits.

POSTED BY: Daniel Lichtblau

It is hard to be certain that c1 and c2 are correct to 77 digits even though they agree to that extent. I'm not saying that they are incorrect and presumably you have verified this. Just claiming that whatever methods NSum may be using to accelerate convergence, there is really no guarantee that they apply to this particular computation. So c1 aand c2 could agree to that many places because they are computed in a similar manner without all digits actually being correct.

POSTED BY: Daniel Lichtblau
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