Can This Infinite Product Surpass 50?

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SUMMARY

The infinite product defined as $\left(1+\dfrac{1}{2}\right)\left(1+\dfrac{1}{4}\right)\left(1+\dfrac{1}{6}\right)\cdots\left(1+\dfrac{1}{2018}\right)$ is analyzed to determine whether it surpasses the value of 50. The discussion includes contributions from various participants, including Opalg, who provided a solution to the previous Problem of the Week (POTW). The mathematical approach involves evaluating the convergence of the product and its implications on the final value. The consensus indicates that the product is less than 50.

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anemone
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Here is this week's POTW:

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Is $\left(1+\dfrac{1}{2}\right)\left(1+\dfrac{1}{4}\right)\left(1+\dfrac{1}{6}\right)\cdots\left(1+\dfrac{1}{2018}\right)$ greater than, less than or equal to 50?

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Congratulations to Opalg for solving last POTW, which you can find his solution below!:cool:
$$\begin{aligned}\left(1+\frac12\right) \left(1+\frac14\right) \left(1+\frac16\right)\cdots \left(1+\frac1{2n}\right) &= \frac32\frac54\frac76 \cdots\frac{2n+1}{2n} \\ &= \frac{(2n+1)!}{4^n(n!)^2} = \frac{(n+1)(2n+1)}{4^n}C_n,\end{aligned}$$ where $C_n = \frac1{n+1}{2n\choose n}$ is the $n$th Catalan number. The Stirling approximation formula for $C_n$ is $C_n \sim \dfrac{4^n}{\sqrt{n^3\pi}}$, and it is accurate to within a factor of about $1/n$. Therefore $$\left(1+\frac12\right) \left(1+\frac14\right) \left(1+\frac16\right)\cdots \left(1+\frac1{2n}\right) \sim \frac{(n+1)(2n+1)}{\sqrt{n^3\pi}}.$$ Put $n = 1009$ to see that $$\left(1+\frac12\right) \left(1+\frac14\right) \left(1+\frac16\right)\cdots \left(1+\frac1{2018}\right) \sim 35.896,$$ correct to about 1 part in 1000. At any rate, it is a lot less than 50.

I will post another solution from other here too for an alternative method to solve the problem.
Let $S=\left(1+\dfrac{1}{2}\right)\left(1+\dfrac{1}{4}\right)\left(1+\dfrac{1}{6}\right)\cdots\left(1+\dfrac{1}{2018}\right)$.

Clearly the following is true:
$S<\left(1+\dfrac{1}{1}\right)\left(1+\dfrac{1}{3}\right)\left(1+\dfrac{1}{5}\right)\cdots\left(1+\dfrac{1}{2017}\right)$

Multiply both sides by $S$, we get

$\begin{align*}S^2&<\left(\dfrac{3}{2}\right)\left(\dfrac{5}{4}\right)\left(\dfrac{7}{6}\right)\cdots\left(\dfrac{2019}{2018}\right)\left(\dfrac{2}{1}\right)\left(\dfrac{4}{3}\right)\left(\dfrac{6}{5}\right)\cdots\left(\dfrac{2018}{2017}\right)\\&<2019\\S&<\sqrt{2019}\end{align*}$

Since $2019<2500=50^2$, we get

$S<\sqrt{2019}<50$
 

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