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 | | In retrospect, given our knowledge that $pi$ is transcendental (this was only proved about a century ago), Euler's evaluation (1.4) of $zt (2)$ explains why Mengoli failed with his attempts; since Mengoli's techniques were based on telescoping series and related elementary methods, he could not obtain an answer such as (1.4). |
 | | In 1737 Euler showed that $zeta (s)$, which is defined by (1.1) for $rRe (s) > 1$, can also be written as.DS 2.EQ (1.5) zt (s) ~=~ PI from p ~ (1-p sup -s) sup -1 ~~~~~rRe (s) > 1 ^,.EN.DE where $p$ runs over the primes. |
 | | This expansion, now called the Euler product of $zeta (s)$, follows from the fact that every positive integer has a unique expansion as a product of prime powers, and so when one expands the product in (1.5) and rearranges the terms, the sum (1.1) results. |
| www.dtc.umn.edu /~odlyzko/doc/arch/primes.quantum.troff (4279 words) |
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