The following might help anyone serious about breaking my record.

Richard Crandall wrote about couple of new formulae for computing the MRB constant faster on pp 28 and 29 here.

By the way, I wrote Crandall about formula (44) -- it seems it should have a minus sign in front of it -- and he wrote back:

Perhaps some of these speed records will be easier to beat

digits      seconds                  sec./digit
500          0.062                     0.000124

1000         0.1230                  0.000123

3000         0.8640                  0.000288

5000        2.4801                    0.00049602

10,000      9.8515                   0.00098515

20,000      47.6900668           0.0023845

30,000      121.3201698        0.00404401

40,000      233.3583473        0.00583396

50,193      363.7078029        0.00724619

100,493    2647.6114347      0.0263462

301,492    32075.94123     .  0.106391

The ultimate speed record to beat, though, is Crandall's 1,048,576 digits in a blistering fast 76.4 hours.

Sam Noble of Apple computed 1,000,000 digits of the MRB constant in 18 days 9 hours 11 minutes 34.253417 seconds

Tue 22 May 2018

I started a 5,000,000 digits calculation on my 4 core ASUS Intel Core i7 7700 Desktop computer K31CD-DS71, 32 GB DDR4 ram running at 2400 MHz in Windows 10 Pro using a version of my Burns-Crandall hybrid code supercharged with 4 iterations of my 4th order convergence subroutine. See attached 5 million digits for the exact code. It would have taken 120 days! I decided to work on some smaller computations first!

Attachments:

5 million digits.nb

For c1 I used a method for alternating series to get a very precise sum approximation: That is from the "AlternatingSigns" option.

Above where Cohen said,

the coefficients of the numerators are furthered below. I know the pattern for the first and last coefficient of each line, but can you figure out a simple pattern for the rest of them? My hat's off to you if you can!

2
16, 8
98, 80, 32
576, 544, 384, 128
3362, 3312, 2912, 1792, 512
19600, 19528, 18688, 15104, 8192, 2048
114242, 114144, 112576, 103168, 76288, 36864, 8192
665856, 665728, 663040, 641536, 557056, 376832, 163840, 32768
3880898, 3880736, 3876416, 3832064, 3603968, 2945024, 1826816, 720896, 131072 

Tue 24 Apr 2018

Here are some timings from version 11.3 and my first custom built computer with it's two separate processors:

[41]

Sat 28 Apr 2018

Chapter 3 in the paper at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0898122189900242 , gives a 4th degree convergence rate algorithm for the nth root of x, which I used to add a new interior to my version of Crandall's MRB constant computation program, making it a hybrid. As the paper describes the algorithm, it is best used for getting many digits from a sufficiently precise initial term. (I used Crandall's 3rd degree convergence interior to get the sufficiently precise term.) This algorithm better optimizes my program for large calculations a little according to the following:

Here is a table of the results so far, which also show that RAM speed is the most important factor in a computer for computing the MRB constant!:

Here are a timing table with All MRB method, Crandall's method and a hybrid of the two on this 4 core ASUS Intel Core i7 7700 Desktop computer K31CD-DS71, 32 GB ram DDR4, 2TB SATA in Windows 10 Pro:

Here are the 3 programs referenced in the above table:

All MRB:

 Print["Start time is " "Start time is ", ds = DateString[], "."];
 prec = 10000;
 (**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[1.0002 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;
         x = N[E^(Log[ll]/(ll)), 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 ![=][4] 
     !![enter image description here][5][enter image description here][6]      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))];(**N[Exp[Log[
         ll]/ll],pr]**)


         x, {l, 0, tsize - 1}], {j, 0, cores - 1}, 
        Method -> 
         "EvaluationsPerKernel" -> 
          16(*a power of 2 commensurate with available RAM*)]];
     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(*a power of 2 commensurate with processor strength*)];
     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[MRBtest2 = expM[prec];]; Print["Finished on ", 
  DateString[], ". Processor and total time were ", 
  t2[[1]], " and ", st, " s respectively."];
 (*Print[*)MRBtest2(*]*)(*Remove (**) or enter MRBtest2 to print \
 output*); Print["Enter MRBtest2 to print ", 
  Floor[Precision[
    MRBtest2]], " digits"]; Print["If you saved m3M, the difference \
 between this and 3,014,991 known digits is ", N[MRBtest2 - m3M, 10]]

Crandall

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 = 32(*=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, 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" -> 
         64(*a power of 2 commensurate with processor strength*)]];
    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(*a power of 2 commensurate with processor strength*)];
    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, 3], " seconds.", 
      " Should take ", N[ti, 2], " days or ", N[ti*24*3600, 2], 
      "s, finish ", DatePlus[ds, ti], "."]];, {k, 0, end - 1}];
   N[-s/d, pr]];
t2 = Timing[MRBtest2 = expM[prec];]; Print["Finished on ", 
 DateString[], ". Processor time was ", 
 t2[[1]], " s. Actual time was ", SessionTime[] - T0, "."];
(*Print[*)MRBtest2(*]*)(*Remove (**) or enter MRBtest2 to print \
output*); Print["Enter MRBtest2 to print ", 
 Floor[Precision[
   MRBtest2]], " digits"]; Print["If you saved m3M, the difference \
between this and 3,014,991 known digits is ", N[MRBtest2 - m3M, 10]]

Hybrid

Print["Start time is ", ds = DateString[], "."];
prec = 300000;
(**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(*a power of 2 commensurate with available RAM*)]];
    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(*a power of 2 commensurate with processor strength*)];
    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[MRBtest2 = expM[prec];]; Print["Finished on ", 
 DateString[], ". Proccessor time was ", t2[[1]], " s."];
(*Print[*)MRBtest2(*]*)(*Remove (**) or enter MRBtest2 to print \
output*); Print["Enter MRBtest2 to print ", 
 Floor[Precision[
   MRBtest2]], " digits"]; Print["If you saved m3M, the difference \
between this and 3,014,991 known digits is ", N[MRBtest2 - m3M, 10]]

Aug 8 2018

I've been having great success with the Wolfram Lightweight Grid and "threadpriority," like in the following:

 In[23]:= Needs["SubKernels`LocalKernels`"]
 Block[{$mathkernel = $mathkernel <> " -threadpriority=2"}, 
  LaunchKernels[]]

 Out[24]= {"KernelObject"[43, "burns"], "KernelObject"[44, "burns"], 
  "KernelObject"[45, "burns"], "KernelObject"[46, "burns"], 
  "KernelObject"[47, "burns"], "KernelObject"[48, "burns"], 
  "KernelObject"[49, "burns"], "KernelObject"[50, "burns"], 
  "KernelObject"[51, "local"], "KernelObject"[52, "local"], 
  "KernelObject"[53, "local"], "KernelObject"[54, "local"], 
  "KernelObject"[55, "local"], "KernelObject"[56, "local"]}

.

I just now computed 1,004,754 digits of the MRB constant in 58 hours of absolute time!

I think that worked because my computer with the local kernels is the faster one.

See attached "58 hour million."

Aug 9, 2018, I just now computed 1,004,993 digits of the MRB constant in 53.5 hours of absolute time! Summarized below.

Print["Start time is ", ds = DateString[], "."];
prec = 1000000;
(**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/6912];
   Do[xvals = Flatten[Parallelize[Table[Table[ll = start + j*tsize + l;
         x = N[E^(Log[ll]/(ll)), iprec];


         pc = iprec;
         While[pc < pr/1024, pc = Min[3 pc, pr/1024];
          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/1024]**)


         x = SetPrecision[x, pr/256];
         xll = x^ll; z = (ll - xll)/xll;
         t = 2 ll - 1; t2 = t^2;
         x = 
          x*(1 + SetPrecision[4.5, pr/256] (ll - 1)/
               t2 + (ll + 1) z/(2 ll t) - 
             SetPrecision[13.5, 
               pr/256] ll (ll - 1) 1/(3 ll t2 + t^3 z));(*N[Exp[Log[
         ll]/ll],pr/256]*)

         x = SetPrecision[x, pr/64];
         xll = x^ll; z = (ll - xll)/xll;
         t = 2 ll - 1; t2 = t^2;
         x = 
          x*(1 + SetPrecision[4.5, pr/64] (ll - 1)/
               t2 + (ll + 1) z/(2 ll t) - 
             SetPrecision[13.5, 
               pr/64] ll (ll - 1) 1/(3 ll t2 + t^3 z));(**N[Exp[Log[
         ll]/ll],pr/64]**)

         x = SetPrecision[x, pr/16];
         xll = x^ll; z = (ll - xll)/xll;
         t = 2 ll - 1; t2 = t^2;
         x = 
          x*(1 + SetPrecision[4.5, pr/16] (ll - 1)/
               t2 + (ll + 1) z/(2 ll t) - 
             SetPrecision[13.5, 
               pr/16] ll (ll - 1) 1/(3 ll t2 + t^3 z));(**N[Exp[Log[
         ll]/ll],pr/16]**)

         x = SetPrecision[x, pr/4];
         xll = x^ll; z = (ll - xll)/xll;
         t = 2 ll - 1; t2 = t^2;
         x = 
          x*(1 + SetPrecision[4.5, pr/4] (ll - 1)/
               t2 + (ll + 1) z/(2 ll t) - 
             SetPrecision[13.5, 
               pr/4] ll (ll - 1) 1/(3 ll t2 + t^3 z));(**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}]]];
    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 -> "Automatic"];
    s += ctab.(xvals - 1);
    start += chunksize;
    st = SessionTime[] - T0; kc = k*chunksize;
    ti = (st)/(kc + 10^-4)*(n)/(3600)/(24);
    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[MRBtest2 = expM[prec];]; Print["Finished on ", 
 DateString[], ". Proccessor time was ", 
 t2[[1]], " s."]; Print["Actual time was ", st];
(*Print[*)MRBtest2(*]*)(*Remove (**) or enter MRBtest2 to print \
output*); Print["Enter MRBtest2 to print ", 
 Floor[Precision[
   MRBtest2]], " digits"]; Print["If you saved m3M, the difference \
between this and 3,014,991 known digits is ", N[MRBtest2 - m3M, 10]]

Start time is Wed 8 Aug 2018 14:09:15.

Iterations required: 1326598

Will give 648 time estimates, each more accurate than the previous.

Will stop at 1327104 iterations to ensure precsion of around 1004999 decimal places.

0 iterations done in 259.9 seconds. Should take 3.991*10^7 days or 3.448*10^12s, finish Fri 24 Dec 111294 02:34:55.

2048 iterations done in 523.6 seconds. Should take 3.926 days or 3.392*10^5s, finish Sun 12 Aug 2018 12:22:00.

4096 iterations done in 790.2 seconds. Should take 2.962 days or 2.559*10^5s, finish Sat 11 Aug 2018 13:14:46.

6144 iterations done in 1058. seconds. Should take 2.645 days or 2.285*10^5s, finish Sat 11 Aug 2018 05:38:01.

8192 iterations done in 1329. seconds. Should take 2.490 days or 2.152*10^5s, finish Sat 11 Aug 2018 01:55:27.

10240 iterations done in 1602. seconds. Should take 2.402 days or 2.075*10^5s, finish Fri 10 Aug 2018 23:47:32.

12288 iterations done in 1875. seconds. Should take 2.343 days or 2.024*10^5s, finish Fri 10 Aug 2018 22:22:49.

14336 iterations done in 2151. seconds. Should take 2.304 days or 1.990*10^5s, finish Fri 10 Aug 2018 21:26:34.

16384 iterations done in 2424. seconds. Should take 2.272 days or 1.963*10^5s, finish Fri 10 Aug 2018 20:41:04.

18432 iterations done in 2700. seconds. Should take 2.250 days or 1.944*10^5s, finish Fri 10 Aug 2018 20:08:36.

20480 iterations done in 2977. seconds. Should take 2.232 days or 1.928*10^5s, finish Fri 10 Aug 2018 19:42:40.

22528 iterations done in 3256. seconds. Should take 2.219 days or 1.917*10^5s, finish Fri 10 Aug 2018 19:24:31.

24576 iterations done in 3533. seconds. Should take 2.207 days or 1.907*10^5s, finish Fri 10 Aug 2018 19:07:43.

26624 iterations done in 3811. seconds. Should take 2.198 days or 1.899*10^5s, finish Fri 10 Aug 2018 18:53:53.
 ...


1320960 iterations done in 1.921*10^5 seconds. Should take 2.232 days or 1.929*10^5s, finish Fri 10 Aug 2018 19:43:46.

1323008 iterations done in 1.923*10^5 seconds. Should take 2.232 days or 1.929*10^5s, finish Fri 10 Aug 2018 19:43:28.

1325056 iterations done in 1.926*10^5 seconds. Should take 2.232 days or 1.928*10^5s, finish Fri 10 Aug 2018 19:43:08.

Finished on Fri 10 Aug 2018 19:39:26. Proccessor time was 122579. s.

Actual time was 192609.7247443

Enter MRBtest2 to print 1004992 digits

If you saved m3M, the difference between this and 3,014,991 known digits is 0.*10^-1004993

Sept 21, 2018, I just now computed 1,004,993 digits of the MRB constant in 50.37 hours of absolute time (35.4 hours processor time)! See attached "50 hour million."

Here is a table of my speed progress in computing the MRB constant since 2012:

See attached "kernel priority 2 computers.nb" and "3 fastest computers together.nb" for some documentation of the timings in the last 2 columns, respectively. See "3million 2 computers" for the estimated time of 24 days for computing 3,000,000 digits.

Attachments:

3 fastest comput...nb

3million 2 computers.nb

50 hour million.nb

58 hour million.nb

kernel priority ...nb

Daniel Lichtblau,
Which one do you not understand? how he derived the eta' formula: from ?

Or is it how and why he added the extra loop to Cohen's method:`

ll = start + l - 2; b *= 2 (ll + n) (ll - n)/((ll + 1) (2 ll + 1)); ?`

I've been asking for a proof of the eta formula derivation. I think it could become the foundation to a great paper.

If the extra loop changes Cohen's method for to a method for I think the code in that loop could help prove the derivation.

Daniel Lichtblau and others, Richard Crandall did intend to explian his work on the MRB constant and his program to compute it. When I wrote him with a possible small improvement to his program he said, "It's worth observing when we write it up." See screenshot:

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

The result of k^(1/k) from the iteration in Crandall's code grows like the following example of 123^(1/123)..

Timing[ll = 123; x = 1 + 1/10; 
 Table[Block[{$MaxExtraPrecision = Infinity}, 
   x = SetPrecision[x, 20 + a^6]; y = x^ll - ll; 
   x = x (1 - 2 y/((ll + 1) y + 2 ll ll)); 
   N[ll^(1/ll) - x, a + 20]], {a, 1, 13}]]

That gives the following timing and accuracies per iteration.

  {8.829657, {-0.04239426367665370783, -0.02519017014329854597401, \
  -0.0097174389047505410455275, -0.000933400633967433388167272, \
  -9.456045144810702667437515*10^-7, \
  -9.8570302819631224677862339*10^-16, \
  -1.11649387558952636447488240*10^-42, \
  -1.622508976729293063326569833*10^-123, \
  -4.9794273187141078980478269830*10^-366, \
  -1.43931637321260733551982880202*10^-1093, \
  -3.476056847637409626605825363818*10^-3276, \
  -4.8964202322309104109089811118496*10^-9824, \
  -1.36852937628135955635109182098985*10^-29467}}

Here is a more extreme example from my big computer where we get about 64,000,000 digits of accuracy of 123^(1/123) in only 20 iterations!

In[47]:= Timing[ll = 123; x = 1 + 1/10;
 Table[Block[{$MaxExtraPrecision = Infinity}, 
   x = SetPrecision[x, 20 + a^6]; y = x^ll - ll;
   x = x (1 - 2 y/((ll + 1) y + 2 ll ll));
   N[ll^(1/ll) - x, a + 20]], {a, 1, 20}]]

Out[47]= {210.180147, {-0.04239426367665370783, \
-0.02519017014329854597401, -0.0097174389047505410455275, \
-0.000933400633967433388167272, -9.456045144810702667437515*10^-7, \
-9.8570302819631224677862339*10^-16, \
-1.11649387558952636447488240*10^-42, \
-1.622508976729293063326569833*10^-123, \
-4.9794273187141078980478269830*10^-366, \
-1.43931637321260733551982880202*10^-1093, \
-3.476056847637409626605825363818*10^-3276, \
-4.8964202322309104109089811118496*10^-9824, \
-1.36852937628135955635109182098985*10^-29467, \
-2.987998984519890677800153644718129*10^-88398, \
-3.1099929855547029560727524646233719*10^-265190, \
-3.50668133180579791324881778853196092*10^-795566, \
-5.026977910888395698424738167604170974*10^-2386694, \
-1.4809452514436132712292881458571004047*10^-7160077, \
-3.78647491015226246115034702337662410645*10^-21480228, 
  0.*10^-64000020}}

Furthermore this process can compute 6,379,358,787 digits of the Sqrt[2], from an initial guess of machine precision, in 18 iterations:

In[90]:= Timing[ll = 2; x = 2.^(1/2);
 Table[Block[{$MaxExtraPrecision = Infinity}, 
   x = SetPrecision[x, 20 + a^7.5]; y = x^ll - ll;
   x = x (1 - 2 y/((ll + 1) y + 2 ll ll));
   N[ll^(1/ll) - x, a + 20]], {a, 1, 18}]]

Out[90]= {1913.882668, {0.*10^-21, -1.800462644283455490473*10^-148, \
-7.2956225729359623776786*10^-445, \
-4.85397000370369097837099*10^-1334, \
-1.429556345255675471801415*10^-4001, \
-3.6518576944392011682818847*10^-12004, \
-6.08767627470915271802076570*10^-36012, \
-2.820100999650988078782491560*10^-108035, \
-2.8035222068968058313783728204*10^-324105, \
-2.75436831997714080172674040062*10^-972315, \
-2.612017346393607427831858236332*10^-2916945, \
-2.2276049962448401256762035120120*10^-8750835, \
-1.38173437723345455709717486529180*10^-26252505, \
-3.297491628267321222864512567028780*10^-78757516, \
-4.4818892212256882776648121052875660*10^-236272548, \
-1.12536490316593766234907240580868063*10^-708817643, 
  0.*10^-1073741813, 0.*10^-1073741813}}

The above pattern is 3 times the previous number of accurate digits per iteration.. `708817643 * 3^2= 6379358787`

I believe it will only take 191+16 = 207 iterations to compute a google digits of the Sqrt[2]:

In[55]:= Log[10.^100/708817643]/Log[3]

Out[55]= 191.04

Talking about the eta formula for the MRB constant

Search 8/13/2017 in the above for this reply's place in Que. I placed it here to make it easy to find on this late of a date.

Here is another great improvement in calculating digits of MRB though this first Crandall eta formula found in the psu.edu paper Unified algorithms for polylogarithm, L-series, and zeta variants

From an even earlier message that starts with "How about computing the MRB constant from Crandall's eta derivative formulas?" here are my first two sets of records to compare with the just mentioned ones. You can see that I increased time efficiency by 10 to 29 to even 72 fold for select computations! In the tests used in that "previous message," 4000 or more digit computations produced a seemingly indefinitely long hang-on.

Digits      Seconds

500        36.831836
1000       717.308198
1500       2989.759165
2000       3752.354453


Digits        Seconds
 500          9.874863
 1000        62.587601
 1500        219.41540
 2000       1008.842867
 2500       2659.208646
 3000       5552.902395
 3500       10233.821601

Comparing first of the just mentioned 2000 digit computations with the "significant improvement" one, we get the following.

3752/127 ~=29.

And from the slowest to the fastest 1500 digit run we get

2989/42 ~=72,

Here is an example calculating 1500 digits in less than 23 seconds. First calculate known accurate digits:

mTrue = NSum[(-1)^n (n^(1/n) - 1), {n, 1, Infinity}, 
   Method -> "AlternatingSigns", WorkingPrecision -> 2000];

Then use this program:

prec = 1500;
to = SessionTime[];
etaMM[m_, pr_] := 
  Module[{a, s, k, b, c}, a[j_] := (Log[j + 1]/(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 - ParallelSum[(Cos[Pi m]) etaMM[m, prec]/
      N[Gamma[m + 1], prec], {m, 2, Floor[.365 prec]}];
Print[mTrue - MRBtest]; SessionTime[] - to

The larger prec (precission) you want to choose, the smaller number you can replace .365 with in
ParallelSum[(Cos[Pi m]) etaMM[m, prec]/N[Gamma[m + 1], prec], {m, 2, Floor[.365 prec]}. For prec=5000, change .365 to .31 (approximately). This advantage for smaller upper limits being needed in the sum is due to the Gamma (!) in the denominator. On my big computer 4000 digits now gives a timing of around 1800 seconds (1/2 an hour). See message above the previous occurrence of 8/13/2017 for previous records and records before those.

V 11 has a significant improvement in my new most recently mentioned fastest program for calculating digits of the MRB constant via the eta formula, Here are some timings:

Digits           seconds

1500                42.6386632

2000             127.3101969

3000             530.4442911

4000           1860.1966540

5000           3875.6978162

6000           8596.9347275

10,000        53667.6315476

UPDATE 5/30/2018

I made some programming improvements to my code for the eta formula computation of the MRB constant.

Here is the new code:

In[88]:= mTrue = 
  NSum[(-1)^n (n^(1/n) - 1), {n, 1, Infinity}, 
   Method -> "AlternatingSigns", WorkingPrecision -> 5000];

In[82]:= prec = 1500;
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 - ParallelSum[(Cos[Pi m]) etaMM[m, prec]/
      N[Gamma[m + 1], prec], {m, 2, Floor[.365 prec]}];
Print[mTrue - MRBtest]; SessionTime[] - to

During evaluation of In[82]:= 0.*10^-1500

Out[87]= 15.4875433

Here is a comparison of my eta formula speed records:

Here is the code for 10,000 digits:

prec = 10000;
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 - ParallelSum[(Cos[Pi m]) etaMM[m, prec]/
      N[Gamma[m + 1], prec], {m, 2, Floor[.295 prec]}];
Print[mTrue - MRBtest]; SessionTime[] - to

0.*10^-9999

20621.99102

I tried a little something I got from the Mathematica documentation center. It speed the calculations up just a little more. My newest sample code as of 5/31/2018:

prec = 1500;
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 - ParallelSum[(Cos[Pi m]) etaMM[m, prec]/
      N[Gamma[m + 1], prec], {m, 2, Floor[.365 prec]}, 
    Method -> "CoarsestGrained"];
Print[mTrue - MRBtest]; SessionTime[] - to

That leads to the following table.

See attached "eta may 31 2018.nb" for the work.

May 31 2018 | 9:00PM EST

I tried this form using the ParallelCombine command:

prec = 1500;
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[.365 prec]], 
     Method -> "CoarsestGrained"]];
Print[mTrue - MRBtest];

SessionTime[] - to

, which lead to this remarkable set of results from my fast 4 core machine with 2400 MHz DDR4 RAM:

The code and computations from Crandall's original code and my first improvement of it can be found by searching for the post above that begins with

"How about computing the MRB constant from Crandall's eta derivative formulas?"

See eta may 31 2018.nb attachment for more work.

UPDATE 2:51PM, June 1, 2018

**Last night at about 9:30PM EST, I started a 20,000 digit calculation of the digits of the MRB constant via eta derivatives using the "Combine" method.

UPDATE

The 20,000 digits finished at Fri 1 Jun 2018 21:11:49 -- it took 83728.3439962 sec -- see attached 20 k eta style.nb .

That timing of 83728.3439962 sec for 20,000 digits fits perfectly with a pattern compared of previous timings. approx 5000 digits took 548sec. 10000 digits took 6806sec.

6806sec(6806sec/548sec) = 84528.532* sec.

That surprises me because my choice in the multiple of prec, as in Floor[.365 prec] for prec=20000 was only a guess. (I used 0.285.) which means the program took 5700 iterations. (It got 3.5 digits per iteration.) My plan was to always use the minimum number of iterations to get a desired number of digits.

As I wrote above:

The larger prec (precission) you want to choose, the smaller number you can replace .365 with in ParallelSum[(Cos[Pi m]) etaMM[m, prec]/N[Gamma[m + 1], prec], {m, 2, Floor[.365 prec]}. For prec=5000, change .365 to .31 (approximately). This advantage for smaller upper limits being needed in the sum is due to the Gamma (!) in the denominator. On my big computer 4000 digits now gives a timing of around 1800 seconds (1/2 an hour). See message above the previous occurrence of 8/13/2017 for previous records and records before those.

I posted some about 12 kernels:

I hoped to produce some extra success by lying to Kernel Configuration as follows:

Which did lead to the following, great results:

Here is a sample:

prec = 10000;
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[.295 prec]], 
     Method -> "CoarsestGrained"]];
Print[mTrue - MRBtest];

SessionTime[] - to

During evaluation of In[52]:= 0.*10^-10000

Out[58]= 3413.3092082

See attached 16 socalled cores.nb.

There is an example of the results for using more and more kernels on my 8 duel core Zeon: -- in attached "more and more kernels effect.nb ."

I would be absolutely delighted if anyone with a larger kernel limit license could run it and show us what your results are!!!

Here is a sample of using more and more kernels on my 8 duel core Zeon:

 Quit[];
mTrue =  0.18785964246206712024851793405427323005590309490013878617200468408947\
7231564660213703296654433107496903842345856258019061231370094759226630\
4389293488961841208373366260816136027381263793734352832125527639621714\
8932170207628206217151671540841268044836354167199851976802527598938993\
9144579835055613509648521071207844423095868129497688526949564204255586\
4836704410425279524710606660926339748341031157816786416689154600342222\
5883800254553968929471142122189105098328712277308020036445215390536395\
0553322034706275511598128280395102192649146731762935161906598160186642\
4582495069720338199295842093551516251439935760076459329128145170908242\
4915883204169066409334435914806705564692806787007028115009380606938139\
3859533606579874055620623487043293607378195646031047639506648930613606\
4552806751519350828083737671929686639810309494963749627738304984632456\
3479311575300289212523291816195626973697074865765476071178017195787368\
3009659022606687536563055165673612881502014387561366865522106743053705\
9103973575619148909369077798320355119336240463725349410542836369971702\
4418551654837279358822008134480961058802030647819619596953756287834812\
3349763858630101407272529230147233333625091858402480370404888196767676\
0119858111679169352796852044160027086137228688945101510291998853690572\
8659287086875425492533794395347589703563313440382638887986656195980733\
5147399025657781331722610761279758527227427773089857749223059709625725\
6271883675575297887925361687673940354321451362772549229313126276435732\
1446216187786377154205423128223446295396532903322171479820280759842210\
6556489004853685870708326887487737763504768916098318553628166715910841\
2193420164386000258508426556435006954832830120546193205155935040023508\
3512613359217408970073297842771289673651619602250771173880842623256978\
8546537869046222708567487474709306935732666859085616282375386551243297\
5647464914619179575869342996208149878536663170197264534260468378010759\
0551486787190395783150604524441907570445113820585333984692194828794764\
8657593178595816527492977822095977440911371434216929624593175324537340\
1299593995004917912983680848547143925846704238528608320053664510586678\
1511964596760791964317343076715344983004971288694016566004270621110790\
5316472150455632994388400521115239016877311545696102836920503689610880\
6031603660382896533239383524154510137534165673472607464891120088099838\
1520466954150263770355732835929966306427173051589721163519991611359546\
7031540872528724399819787250274679738863889705686743537785798105855619\
2492185716949135673462704077491448799682065482817465880642236348160780\
9507770579393134958298066028252721284916888092303252902700599177550596\
1583591999319086939303973661164651485821997292533710676873868623504791\
5879737968269847878082223410618789674667450680064404065553875213281494\
9807002098581322206201090112659034497174108010632475647128346095492843\
7006514745021822612041564393030885982642625682812609249113673396723593\
3714534216902560140050169469983875907342920361729301531400405936246406\
78140077947561307736973240992352946479458077816460769624086460;
Quiet[Table[LaunchKernels[1]; prec = 3000;
  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[.365 prec]], 
      Method -> "CoarsestGrained"]];
  Print["Error was ", mTrue - MRBtest, ", using"];

  Print[xx, "  kernels, and gave a time of ", SessionTime[] - to, 
   " s."], {xx, 1, 16}]]

  Error was 0.*10^-3000, using

1  kernels, and gave a time of 477.9303673 s.

Error was 0.*10^-3000, using

2  kernels, and gave a time of 257.3167709 s.

Error was 0.*10^-3000, using

3  kernels, and gave a time of 181.8228406 s.

Error was 0.*10^-3000, using

4  kernels, and gave a time of 147.4913411 s.

Error was 0.*10^-3000, using

5  kernels, and gave a time of 118.8902094 s.

Error was 0.*10^-3000, using

6  kernels, and gave a time of 103.5240060 s.

Error was 0.*10^-3000, using

7  kernels, and gave a time of 92.3546592 s.

Error was 0.*10^-3000, using

8  kernels, and gave a time of 85.5143638 s.

Error was 0.*10^-3000, using

9  kernels, and gave a time of 75.6869920 s.

Error was 0.*10^-3000, using

10  kernels, and gave a time of 72.1320176 s.

Error was 0.*10^-3000, using

11  kernels, and gave a time of 68.4291460 s.

Error was 0.*10^-3000, using

12  kernels, and gave a time of 62.7524163 s.

Error was 0.*10^-3000, using

13  kernels, and gave a time of 63.8671114 s.

Error was 0.*10^-3000, using

14  kernels, and gave a time of 61.3992399 s.

Error was 0.*10^-3000, using

15  kernels, and gave a time of 61.0743278 s.

Error was 0.*10^-3000, using

16  kernels, and gave a time of 60.1936369 s.

I just updated the attachment, "more and more kernels effect.nb ."

UPDATE July 29, 2018

Here are some new stats:

Links

Attachments:

16 socalled cores.nb

20 k eta style.nb

eta all cores as...nb

eta may 31 2018.nb

more and more ke...nb

I figured out how to rapidly compute AND CHECK a computation of the MRB constant! (The timing given is in processor time [for computing and checking] only. T0 can be used with another SessionTime[] call at the end to figure out all time expired during running of the program.) I used both of Crandall's methods for computing it and used for a check, the nontrivial identity ,where gamma is the Euler constant and M is the MRB constant.

Below is my first version of the code with results. If nothing else, I thought, the code pits Crandall's 2 methods against each other to show if one is wrong they both are wrong. (So it is not a real proof.) But these are two totally different methods! (the first of which has been proven by Henry Cohen to be theoretically correct here). For a second check mm is a known approximation to the constant; over 3 million non checked (as of now) digits are found in the attached file 3M.nb. (You will have to change the Format/Style to Input to use the digits.)

In[15]:= (*MRB constant computation with verification! The constant's \
decimal approximation is saved as MRBtest*)prec = 5000;(*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];
  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;, {k, 0, end - 1}];
  etaMs = N[-s/d - (EulerGamma Log[2] - Log[2]^2/2), pr]]; t2 = 
 Timing[MRBtest2 = expM[prec];];
Print["The MRB constant was computed and checked to ", prec, " digits \
in ", t1 = t2[[1]] + Timing[eta[s_] := (1 - 2^(1 - s)) Zeta[s];
     eta1 = Limit[D[eta[s], s], s -> 1];
     MRBtrue = mm;
     MRBtest = eta1 + etaMs;
     check = MRBtest - MRBtrue][[1]], " seconds"]; check

During evaluation of In[15]:= The MRB constant was computed and checked to 5000 digits in 2.12161 seconds

Out[18]= 0.*10^-5000

In[19]:= MRBtest - mm

Out[19]= 0.*10^-5000

Attachments:

3M.nb

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=` 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 I wonder why he chose it?

If you copy and paste the code for Zeta''[2] you get a non evaluable input!

I get the following results comparing two methods:

In[655]:= 
Timing[MRBtrue = 
   NSum[(-1)^n*(n^(1/n) - 1), {n, 1, Infinity}, 
    WorkingPrecision -> prec, Method -> "AlternatingSigns"]][[1]]

Out[655]= 8.049652

In[656]:= 
Timing[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''[2])) + 1/2 (2 EulerGamma Log[2] - Log[2]^2)][[1]]

Out[656]= 12.277279

I could really use your opinions here! If your getting tired of my posts let me know.

Power towers are defined below. See http://mathworld.wolfram.com/PowerTower.html .

;;;

How about breaking my record for computing the infinite power tower of the MRB constant. Here's how I have to go about computing n digits of it: I compute a decimal expansion of the MRB constant, which I save as m. Then I compute l = Log[m]; N[-ProductLog[-l]/l, n]. My record is 3 million digits, in which I used my 3,014,991 digit computation of the MRB constant (mentioned in the first post of this thread) for m.

It would be EXTREMELY helpful if anyone could find a way to compute the exact power tower without first computing the MRB constant! Such a revelation would be synonymous with finding a closed for solution to the MRB constant! I've been trying to find the exact power tower, lately, with no success. Even a high precision approximation to the power tower would generate a nearly equally precise approximation to the MRB constant. (Let ll be the infinite power tower of m, then ll^(1/ll)=m)

Attached are 3 million digits of the power tower.

The MRB constant is now a Scholar subject:

https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=%22MRB+constant%22

Try to beat these MRB constant records!

NEW RECORD ATTEMPTS OF 4,000,000 DIGITS!

.

.

First effort, Sep 04, 2015

At 10:00 PM Friday Sept 04, 2015 I started the 4,000,000 run of the MRB constant proper. Does anyone want to work on it with me?

Here is the code I am using:

(*Fastest (at MRB's end) as of 24 dEC 2014.*)
Block[{$MaxExtraPrecision = 50}, 
 prec = 4000000;(*Number of required decimals.*)ClearSystemCache[];
 T0 = SessionTime[];
 expM[pre_] := 
  Module[{a, d, s, k, bb, c, n, end, iprec, xvals, x, pc, cores = 16, 
    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["end ", end];
   Print[end*chunksize]; d = Cos[n ArcCos[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;
        h = Log[ll]/ll; x = N[Exp[h], 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" -> 4]];
    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" -> 2];
    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];]; 
 Print["Difference from 3014991 known digits is ", MRBtest2 - m3M];
 MRBtest2]

3014991 digits are saved as m3M.

I will post several updates as edits here as I go.

EDIT: As of Sat, Sept 5, 2015, the program is indicating that the run will take 3.3 months.

EDIT: Having to run the program for over 3 months, there is a chance that I would suffer a power outage longer than the 15 minutes or so that my battery backup will run my computer! Of course I'll keep you posted if that happens. (I've tried calculations that took longer than that before!)

...Updates were installed closing Mathematica..

Second effort, Sept 10, 2015

EDIT I didn't know that upgrading to Windows 10 caused my Windows update option to read, automatically install updates, so my computer restarted. I started the 4,000,000 digit run again at 8:34 PM, Thursday Sept 10, 2015. This time I made sure the deffer updates option was chosen!!

EDIT As of Sept 19,2015, the program says it will take 94 more days to complete the 4 million digit run.

EDIT As of Sept 23,2015, 9:20 PM, the program says it will take 90.9563 more days to complete the 4 million digit run.

EDIT As of Sept 27,2015, 9:20 PM, the program says it will take 86.9283 more days to complete the 4 million digit run

...Updates were installed closing Mathematica..

Third effort, Sept 28,2015

Well I started the 4 million digit search again. This time I installed the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update to try to avoid the automatic restarts! Per my habit above I will post updates in this message. The code I'm using is the same mentioned twice above that starts with

The Windows 10 Fall Creators Update restarted my machine on Thursday, Nov 16, 2017 at 5:33 pm!

Fourth effort, Sat 14 Apr 2018

I optimized my program to calculating 4019999 digits with my new system in Mathematica v. 11.3 (not kernel version).

Posted below. On my new Zeon system, this optimized version gives V11.3 (not kernel version) a slight advantage over 11.2 (not kernel version)!

Print["Start time is ", ds = DateString[], "."];
prec = 4000000;
(**Number of required decimals.*.*)ClearSystemCache[];
T0 = SessionTime[];
expM[pre_] := 
  Module[{a, d, s, k, bb, c, end, iprec, xvals, x, pc, cores = 32(*=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, 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" -> 16(* a power of 2 commensurate with processor strength*)]];
    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(* a power of 2 commensurate with processor strength*)];
    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, 3], " seconds.", 
      " Should take ", N[ti, 2], " days or ", N[ti*24*3600, 2], 
      "s, finish ", DatePlus[ds, ti], "."]];, {k, 0, end - 1}];
   N[-s/d, pr]];
t2 = Timing[MRBtest2 = expM[prec];]; Print["Finished on ", 
 DateString[], ". Proccessor time was ", t2[[1]], " s."];
(*Print[*)MRBtest2(*]*)(*Remove (**) or enter MRBtest2 to print \
output*); Print["Enter MRBtest2 to print ", 
 Floor[Precision[
   MRBtest2]], " digits"]; Print["If you saved m3M, the difference \
between this and 3,014,991 known digits is ", N[MRBtest2 - m3M, 10]]

I'm going to play around with it an see what my patience and my computer's endurance amounts to.

Here is the result:

Start time is Sat 14 Apr 2018 14:00:33.

Iterations required: 5306398

Will give 1296 time estimates, each more accurate than the previous.

Will stop at 5308416 iterations to ensure precsion of around 4019999 decimal places.

4096 iterations done in 1.1810^4 seconds. Should take 1.810^2 days or 1.5*10^7s, finish Tue 9 Oct 2018 01:49:36.

...

2789376 iterations done in 4.21*10^6 seconds. Should take 93. days or 8.0*10^6s, finish Mon 16 Jul 2018 07:21:24.

That is 43.92 days from now (9:15:15 am EDT | Saturday, June 2, 2018).

...

My computer crashed!

Fifth effort, Dec 19, 2017

I applied some new update policies via LogMeIn, for windows to download but not apply updates. That should work!

The new run looks like

  1 : 15 : 58 pm EST | Sunday, December 17, 2017
   ...  done iter 96256 165140.1164436.

Then

  (165140.1164436) sec/(96256 iterations) (5306880 iterations)/(3600sec/hour)/(24 hour/day)

gives 105.378 day.

Entering "December 17, 2017+106 days" into Wolfram Alpha tells us the computation should be done around Monday, April 2, 2018.

My computer went to sleep sometime between 10:15:51 pm EST | Thursday, December 28, 2017 and 9:22:00 am EST | Sunday, December 31, 2017 .

Sixth effort, Jan 09, 2018

The output starts out with

"Sun 7 Jan 2018 15:14:50"

Iterations required: 5306398

 end 3455

 5306880

 done iter 0     2374.6810043.

The latest result is done iter 92160 153642.6180409.

Entering

 (153642.6180409) sec/(92160 iterations) (5306880iterations)/(3600 sec/hour)/(24 hour/day)

gives

102.399 day or 3.4 months for the computation to run.

Here is the latest output: done iter 3048960 5.1636602440434*10^6.

N[3048960/5306880*100] says the computation is 57.453% done.

... My computer failed on 3/11/2018 at 8:30 am. I will break the program up, where it does a little at a time and saves a file with what progress has been made!

Seventh! effort 27 Aug 2018

I started another 4 million digit run with my 3.7 GH overclocked up to 4.7 GH, Intel 6core and 6 kernels at 3000MH RAM, w/ 4 cores and 8 kernels of 3.6 GH at 2400MH RAM with optimized use of kernel priority.

It is ultra fast!!!!!! Instead of around 100 days it says it will be done in less than 50 days.

Here are the results thus far:

Print["Start time is ", ds = DateString[], "."];
prec = 4000000;
(**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/24768];
   Do[xvals = Flatten[Parallelize[Table[Table[ll = start + j*tsize + l;
         x = N[E^(Log[ll]/(ll)), iprec];



         pc = iprec;
         While[pc < pr/4096, pc = Min[3 pc, pr/4096];
          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/4096]**)

         x = SetPrecision[x, pr/1024];
         xll = x^ll; z = (ll - xll)/xll;
         t = 2 ll - 1; t2 = t^2;
         x = 
          x*(1 + SetPrecision[4.5, pr/1024] (ll - 1)/
               t2 + (ll + 1) z/(2 ll t) - 
             SetPrecision[13.5, 
               pr/1024] ll (ll - 1) 1/(3 ll t2 + t^3 z));(*N[Exp[Log[
         ll]/ll],pr/1024]*)

         x = SetPrecision[x, pr/256];
         xll = x^ll; z = (ll - xll)/xll;
         t = 2 ll - 1; t2 = t^2;
         x = 
          x*(1 + SetPrecision[4.5, pr/256] (ll - 1)/
               t2 + (ll + 1) z/(2 ll t) - 
             SetPrecision[13.5, 
               pr/256] ll (ll - 1) 1/(3 ll t2 + t^3 z));(*N[Exp[Log[
         ll]/ll],pr/256]*)

         x = SetPrecision[x, pr/64];
         xll = x^ll; z = (ll - xll)/xll;
         t = 2 ll - 1; t2 = t^2;
         x = 
          x*(1 + SetPrecision[4.5, pr/64] (ll - 1)/
               t2 + (ll + 1) z/(2 ll t) - 
             SetPrecision[13.5, 
               pr/64] ll (ll - 1) 1/(3 ll t2 + t^3 z));(**N[Exp[Log[
         ll]/ll],pr/64]**)

         x = SetPrecision[x, pr/16];
         xll = x^ll; z = (ll - xll)/xll;
         t = 2 ll - 1; t2 = t^2;
         x = 
          x*(1 + SetPrecision[4.5, pr/16] (ll - 1)/
               t2 + (ll + 1) z/(2 ll t) - 
             SetPrecision[13.5, 
               pr/16] ll (ll - 1) 1/(3 ll t2 + t^3 z));(**N[Exp[Log[
         ll]/ll],pr/16]**)

         x = SetPrecision[x, pr/4];
         xll = x^ll; z = (ll - xll)/xll;
         t = 2 ll - 1; t2 = t^2;
         x = 
          x*(1 + SetPrecision[4.5, pr/4] (ll - 1)/
               t2 + (ll + 1) z/(2 ll t) - 
             SetPrecision[13.5, 
               pr/4] ll (ll - 1) 1/(3 ll t2 + t^3 z));(**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}]]];
    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 -> "Automatic"];
    s += ctab.(xvals - 1);
    start += chunksize;
    st = SessionTime[] - T0; kc = k*chunksize;
    ti = (st)/(kc + 10^-4)*(n)/(3600)/(24);
    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[MRBtest2 = expM[prec];]; Print["Finished on ", 
 DateString[], ". Proccessor time was ", 
 t2[[1]], " s."]; Print["Actual time was ", st];
(*Print[*)MRBtest2(*]*)(*Remove (**) or enter MRBtest2 to print \
output*); Print["Enter MRBtest2 to print ", 
 Floor[Precision[
   MRBtest2]], " digits"]; Print["If you saved m3M, the difference \
between this and 3,014,991 known digits is ", N[MRBtest2 - m3M, 10]]

Start time is Mon 27 Aug 2018 17:22:11.

Iterations required: 5306398

Will give 2592 time estimates, each more accurate than the previous.

Will stop at 5308416 iterations to ensure precsion of around 4019999 decimal places.

0 iterations done in 1408. seconds. Should take 8.646*10^8 days or 7.470*10^13s, finish Sun 25 Jul 2369306 03:19:20.

2048 iterations done in 2831. seconds. Should take 84.90 days or 7.335*10^6s, finish Tue 20 Nov 2018 14:58:22.

4096 iterations done in 4261. seconds. Should take 63.90 days or 5.521*10^6s, finish Tue 30 Oct 2018 14:52:54.

6144 iterations done in 5752. seconds. Should take 57.49 days or 4.967*10^6s, finish Wed 24 Oct 2018 05:12:32.

8192 iterations done in 7237. seconds. Should take 54.26 days or 4.688*10^6s, finish Sat 20 Oct 2018 23:35:31.
...

210944 iterations done in 1.513*10^5 seconds. Should take 44.06 days or 3.807*10^6s, finish Wed 10 Oct 2018 18:53:41.

212992 iterations done in 1.528*10^5 seconds. Should take 44.06 days or 3.807*10^6s, finish Wed 10 Oct 2018 18:49:24.

215040 iterations done in 1.543*10^5 seconds. Should take 44.06 days or 3.807*10^6s, finish Wed 10 Oct 2018 18:48:16.

217088 iterations done in 1.558*10^5 seconds. Should take 44.07 days or 3.808*10^6s, finish Wed 10 Oct 2018 19:04:29.

219136 iterations done in 1.573*10^5 seconds. Should take 44.07 days or 3.808*10^6s, finish Wed 10 Oct 2018 19:07:25.


...



548864 iterations done in 3.954*10^5 seconds. Should take 44.24 days or 3.822*10^6s, finish Wed 10 Oct 2018 23:06:24.

550912 iterations done in 3.968*10^5 seconds. Should take 44.24 days or 3.822*10^6s, finish Wed 10 Oct 2018 23:08:05.

552960 iterations done in 3.983*10^5 seconds. Should take 44.24 days or 3.822*10^6s, finish Wed 10 Oct 2018 23:09:03.

...

782336 iterations done in 5.655*10^5 seconds. Should take 44.40 days or 3.836*10^6s, finish Thu 11 Oct 2018 02:52:31.

784384 iterations done in 5.671*10^5 seconds. Should take 44.40 days or 3.836*10^6s, finish Thu 11 Oct 2018 03:00:20.

786432 iterations done in 5.685*10^5 seconds. Should take 44.40 days or 3.836*10^6s, finish Thu 11 Oct 2018 02:58:41.

...
907264 iterations done in 6.568*10^5 seconds. Should take 44.46 days or 3.841*10^6s, finish Thu 11 Oct 2018 04:26:21.

909312 iterations done in 6.583*10^5 seconds. Should take 44.46 days or 3.842*10^6s, finish Thu 11 Oct 2018 04:29:41.

911360 iterations done in 6.598*10^5 seconds. Should take 44.47 days or 3.842*10^6s, finish Thu 11 Oct 2018 04:33:53.


...

1028096 iterations done in 7.454*10^5 seconds. Should take 44.53 days or 3.848*10^6s, finish Thu 11 Oct 2018 06:07:13.

1030144 iterations done in 7.470*10^5 seconds. Should take 44.53 days or 3.848*10^6s, finish Thu 11 Oct 2018 06:11:43.

1032192 iterations done in 7.485*10^5 seconds. Should take 44.54 days or 3.848*10^6s, finish Thu 11 Oct 2018 06:12:48.

A long-term power outage stopped this computation!

I so dearly want to see more digits of the MRB constant: Please, anyone, please help here!!