Infinitely many infinitely small numbers.

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The discussion centers on the evaluation of the limit of the sum \(\lim_{n \rightarrow \infty} \sum^{n}_{i=1} \frac{1}{n}\), which converges to 1, and the divergence of the harmonic series. Participants clarify that the notation \(\sum^{n}_{i=1} \frac{1}{n}\) represents a finite sum, while the harmonic series diverges as \(n\) approaches infinity. The conversation also addresses misconceptions about limits and the treatment of infinite sums, emphasizing that arithmetic operations on real numbers do not apply to infinity in the same manner.

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  • #31
HARMONIC series is divergent, but REGULARIZABLE

\sum_{n=1}^{\infty} \frac{1}{n} = - \frac{\Gamma '(1)}{\Gamma(1)}

the idea is that Harmonic series is the logarithmic derivative (a=1) of the infinite product

\prod (n+a) which can be 'regularized' to give e^{ - \zeta ' _{H} (0,a)

here the Zeta function is the Hurwitz one , the above is the definition of zeta-regularized determinat
 
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  • #32
JonF said:
No typo.

These questions stem from a thread that was around a several weeks ago, where it was stated that \frac{1}{\infty}=0. My real question that I’ve been building up to is: how can \lim_{n \rightarrow \infty}\sum^{n}_{i=1} 0 = 1
Then don't worry about it
\frac{1}{\infty}= 0
is not true in standard analysis.
 
  • #33
HallsofIvy said:
Then don't worry about it
\frac{1}{\infty}= 0
is not true in standard analysis.
This thread is 6 years old, Halls!
 

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