I found another amazing memo from my old note!
It says
$$\prod_{n=1}^\infty \frac{2}{1+2^{1/2^n}}=\ln 2$$
Since the partial product for $>1000$ terms is $0.69314718056 \approx \ln 2$, it seems to be true.
Unfortunately, I didn't wrote why it is true.
I combed all over my bookshelf but there was no additional clues.
Would you help me?
Asked
Active
Viewed 77 times
1
okw1124
- 653
- 3
- 10
-
Have you written down some partial products? Try multiplying out the denominators of the partial products. – Dan Velleman Oct 31 '21 at 16:42
1 Answers
9
Show by induction that: $$\prod_{k=0}^{N-1}\left(1+x^{2^k}\right)=\frac{x^{2^{N}}-1}{x-1}$$ This is just a result of repeated factoring of difference of two squares.
Letting $x=2^{1/2^N},$ and $j=N-k,$ $$\prod_{j=1}^N\left(1+2^{1/2^j}\right)=\frac{1}{2^{1/2^N}-1}$$
So $$\prod_{j=1}^N\frac{2}{1+2^{1/2^j}}=2^N\left(2^{1/2^N}-1\right)$$
Letting $u=1/2^N$ compute $$\lim_{u\to 0}\frac{2^u-1}{u}.$$
In general, for $a>0, a\neq 1,$
$$\prod_{j=1}^\infty\frac{2}{1+a^{1/2^j}}=\frac{\ln a}{a-1}$$
Thomas Andrews
- 177,126