Calculating the Sum of Odd Digits in Powers of 2: A Fascinating Number Property

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the mathematical property of calculating the sum of odd digits in powers of 2, specifically focusing on the series \(\sum_{n=1}^{\infty} \frac{o(2^n)}{2^n} = \frac{1}{9}\), where \(o(2^n)\) denotes the number of odd digits in \(2^n\). Participants share resources and papers that explore this topic further.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Technical explanation, Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant presents the series and cites a source from MathWorld that discusses the digit count of powers of 2.
  • Another participant expresses enthusiasm about the series and shares a link to a paper on JSTOR that contains additional information.
  • A participant humorously expresses frustration with accessing JSTOR.
  • One participant reiterates their excitement about the series and shares another resource, a book that discusses strange number properties, indicating that it provides an accessible proof of the summation.
  • Another participant agrees with the previous comment, noting that the book offers a clear explanation of the series, requiring only basic knowledge of geometric series and modular arithmetic.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally express enthusiasm for the topic and share resources, but there is no explicit consensus on the interpretations or implications of the series discussed.

Contextual Notes

Some participants reference specific mathematical properties and proofs without fully detailing the assumptions or mathematical steps involved, leaving certain aspects of the discussion open to interpretation.

Zhivago
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[tex]\sum_{n=1}^{\infty} \frac{o(2^n)}{2^n} = \frac{1}{9}[/tex]
where [tex]o(2^n)[/tex] is the number of odd digits of [tex]2^n[/tex].

Found it in
http://mathworld.wolfram.com/DigitCount.html
equation (9)
 
Mathematics news on Phys.org
That's a pretty amazing series. I found some more information about it in the following paper. See : http://www.jstor.org/view/00029890/di991774/99p0626c/0
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Curses, JSTOR!
 
uart said:
That's a pretty amazing series. I found some more information about it in the following paper. See : http://www.jstor.org/view/00029890/di991774/99p0626c/0

Fantastic! Thanks a lot!
Also found it in
Experimentation in Mathematics: Computational Paths to Discovery
By Jonathan M. Borwein, David H. Bailey, Roland
pag 14-15

here's a google link:
http://books.google.com/books?id=cs...over&sig=yE9mO3b-YA9lLjAq6Nt4ED4bn1g#PPA15,M1

I'm no mathematician, but found really interesting some of these strange number properties.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Zhivago said:
...here's a google link:
http://books.google.com/books?id=cs...over&sig=yE9mO3b-YA9lLjAq6Nt4ED4bn1g#PPA15,M1

I'm no mathematician, but found really interesting some of these strange number properties.

Thanks for the link Zhivago. Yes that book provides a nice accessible proof of that summation. In the link I posted they only really hinted at how that series was handled but in your link they nail it (only really needing knowledge of geomeric series and modolu athrithmetic to follow it). Good stuff!
 
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