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Consider the following $50-$term sums$:$ $$ S=\frac{1}{1\cdot2}+\frac{1}{3\cdot4}+\frac{1}{5\cdot6}+....\frac{1}{99\cdot100}$$ and $$T=\frac{1}{51\cdot100}+\frac{1}{52\cdot99}+\frac{1}{53\cdot98}+....+\frac{1}{100\cdot51}$$ Express $\frac{S}{T}$ as an irreducible fraction.

My attempt$:$

The first equation can be written as $$S=\frac11-\frac12+\frac13-\frac14+\frac15-\frac16+....+\frac1{99}-\frac1{100}$$ $\implies$ $$S=(1+\frac13+\frac15+....+\frac1{99})-(\frac12+\frac14+\frac16+....+\frac1{100})$$ or $$S=1+\frac12\operatorname{ln}50-\frac12\operatorname{ln}\frac{103}{2}$$ and $$T=2(\frac{1}{51\cdot100}+\frac{1}{52\cdot99}+\frac{1}{53\cdot98}+....+\frac{1}{75\cdot76})$$ After this I am not able to do anything. And also the value of S which I get doesn't seems to be correct(though I have calculated it using formula)as it is quite messy and I don't think S can be further reduced. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Zootopia
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  • for $S$ you can use $$H'_{n} = \log(2) + \frac {(-1)^{n}}{2}\left[\psi_0(\frac 1{2} +\frac n{2}) - \psi_0(\frac n{2} + 1)\right]$$ –  Nov 07 '21 at 14:00
  • The value of $S$ that you have is not correct. You have calculated a finite sum of rational numbers $\frac{1}{1\cdot2}+\frac{1}{3\cdot4}+\frac{1}{5\cdot6}+....\frac{1}{99\cdot100}$, and you've got an irrational answer in terms of $\ln 50$ and $\ln( 103/2)$. Any finite sum of rational numbers is always a rational number. – Jojo Nov 07 '21 at 22:28

2 Answers2

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For every integer $n\geq 1$, let $$H_n = \sum_{i=1}^{n} \frac{1}{i}$$

On one hand, one has

$$S=\frac{1}{1\cdot2}+\frac{1}{3\cdot4}+\frac{1}{5\cdot6}+....\frac{1}{99\cdot100} = \sum_{i=1}^{50} \frac{1}{(2i-1)(2i)} = \sum_{i=1}^{50} \frac{1}{2i-1}-\frac{1}{2i}$$

so $$S=\left(\sum_ {i=1}^{100} \frac{1}{i} - \sum_{i=1}^{50} \frac{1}{2i} \right)-\sum_{i=1}^{50} \frac{1}{2i} = H_{100}-\frac{1}{2}H_{50}-\frac{1}{2}H_{50}$$ so $$\boxed{S= H_{100}-H_{50}}$$

On the other hand,

$$T=\frac{1}{51\cdot100}+\frac{1}{52\cdot99}+\frac{1}{53\cdot98}+....+\frac{1}{100\cdot51} =\sum_{i=1}^{50} \frac{1}{(50+i)(101-i)} = \frac{1}{151}\left(\sum_{i=1}^{50}\frac{1}{50+i} + \frac{1}{101-i}\right)$$

so $$T=\frac{1}{151}\left(H_{100}-H_{50} + \sum_{i=1}^{50}\frac{1}{101-i}\right) = \frac{1}{151}\left(H_{100}-H_{50} + \sum_{i=51}^{100}\frac{1}{i}\right) = \frac{1}{151}\left(H_{100}-H_{50} + H_{100}-H_{50}\right)$$ so $$\boxed{T = \frac{2}{151} \left(H_{100}-H_{50} \right)}$$

Using these two results, you see finally that $$\frac{S}{T} = \frac{151}{2}$$

TheSilverDoe
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$$H'_n = \sum_{k = 1}^n \frac {(-1)^n}{k}$$

  • Harmonic Function : ($4$) $$\color{green}{S} =\frac{1}{1\cdot2}+\frac{1}{3\cdot4}+\frac{1}{5\cdot6}+....\frac{1}{99\cdot100}= \color{green}{H'_{100}} $$

$$\begin{align*}T &= \frac{1}{51\cdot100}+\frac{1}{52\cdot99}+\frac{1}{53\cdot98}+....+\frac{1}{100\cdot51}\\ & = \frac 1{151} \left[\frac 1{51} + \frac 1{100} +\frac 1{52} +\frac 1{99}....... \frac {1}{99}+\frac 1{52} + \frac1{100} + \frac 1{51}\right]\\ & = \frac 2{151}\left(\frac 1{51} + \frac 1{52} +.....\frac 1{100}\right)\\ & = \frac 2{151}(H_{100}-H_{50})\\ & = \frac 2{151}H'_{100} \\ \end{align*}$$ $$\color{blue}{T = \frac 2{151}S \implies \frac S{T} = \frac {151}{2}}$$

$H'_{2n} = H_{2n} -H_{n}$