Re: [math-fun] An infinite number of mathematicians walk into a bar
I love this! —Dan Allan Wechsler wrote: ----- An infinite number of mathematicians walk into a bar. First mathematician goes up to the bartender and orders a pint. Second mathematician orders two pints. Third mathematician orders three pints. Fourth mathematician orders four pints. Fifth mathematician orders five pints. Bartender says, "Stop right there! at the rate you're going, you'll owe me a twelfth of a pint." -----
I don't get it. Assuming 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + ... = -1/12 , surely the bartender will owe them 1/12 of a pint? WFL On 1/4/19, Dan Asimov <dasimov@earthlink.net> wrote:
I love this!
—Dan
Allan Wechsler wrote: ----- An infinite number of mathematicians walk into a bar.
First mathematician goes up to the bartender and orders a pint. Second mathematician orders two pints. Third mathematician orders three pints. Fourth mathematician orders four pints. Fifth mathematician orders five pints.
Bartender says, "Stop right there! at the rate you're going, you'll owe me a twelfth of a pint." -----
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On Jan 3, 2019, at 8:08 PM, Fred Lunnon <fred.lunnon@gmail.com> wrote:
I don't get it. Assuming 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + ... = -1/12 , surely the bartender will owe them 1/12 of a pint? WFL
The bartender is exploiting a well known weakness with signs in his clientele. You can use this zeta function fact in a twist of the much told story about Gauss summing 1+2+ … +100: “Less well known is the story of Riemann, whose teacher — determined not to run afoul of the trick used by a previous student — asked the students to sum *all* the integers …” -Veit
But using surreal numbers, the young Gauss can simply pair 1 with omega-1, 2 with omega-2, and so on.
On Jan 4, 2019, at 10:22 AM, Veit Elser <ve10@cornell.edu> wrote:
You can use this zeta function fact in a twist of the much told story about Gauss summing 1+2+ … +100: “Less well known is the story of Riemann, whose teacher — determined not to run afoul of the trick used by a previous student — asked the students to sum *all* the integers …”
-Veit
On Thu, Jan 3, 2019 at 6:08 PM Fred Lunnon <fred.lunnon@gmail.com> wrote:
I don't get it. Assuming 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + ... = -1/12 , surely the bartender will owe them 1/12 of a pint? WFL
No, they'll owe him a twelfth of a pint, but he'll owe them the price of it.
On 1/4/19, Dan Asimov <dasimov@earthlink.net> wrote:
I love this!
—Dan
Allan Wechsler wrote: ----- An infinite number of mathematicians walk into a bar.
First mathematician goes up to the bartender and orders a pint. Second mathematician orders two pints. Third mathematician orders three pints. Fourth mathematician orders four pints. Fifth mathematician orders five pints.
Bartender says, "Stop right there! at the rate you're going, you'll owe me a twelfth of a pint." -----
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participants (5)
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Cris Moore -
Dan Asimov -
Fred Lunnon -
Mike Stay -
Veit Elser