I will start by explaining what a transcendental number is and I will also give a short survey article to explain the history of transcendental numbers.
A transcendental number is a number that is not the solution of a polynomial with rational coefficients as opposed to the numbers that are the solutions or roots of the polynomial with rational coefficients, designated by the term algebraic number. Some famous examples of transcendental numbers are Euler’s constant (e) ~= 2.71828… and Pi ~= 3.14159… , famous for being the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter, expressed as the ratio c/d. Now I will present a survey article written by me which will explain the history of the transcendental numbers.
The first recorded appearance of the transcendental numbers in the mathematical literature originates in a paper by Gottfried Leibniz in 1682 where he proves that the trigonometric function sin(x) is not an algebraic function. However it was Euler who gave the modern definition of the transcendental number and furthermore conjectured that such numbers exist. Later in 1768, John Lambert conjectured that both e and Pi are transcendental. Euler also proved in 1737 that e is irrational however he only published this result seven years later in 1744. In 1844, Joseph Liouville proved that transcendental numbers do exist but still failed to provide an explicit example. In 1850 however, Liouville did construct an infinite series of examples that were transcendental, the most famous of these is known as the Liouville constant. The Liouville constant is the number: 0.110001… . However these are all artificial transcendental numbers and so the jury was still out on whether there were any natural transcendental numbers. In 1873 Charles Hermite proved that e, Euler’s constant, was transcendental, proving that there do exist natural transcendental numbers that don’t have to be constructed for the purpose. However, Pi was yet to be proven as transcendental. In 1882, Ferdinand von Lindermann proved that Pi was transcendental. We shall end here as the rest of the history is few and far between.
Now, I will present my conjecture on a specific transcendental number.
The conjecture is that the number: (n!(1)^-1 u (n+1)!(2) ^-1 u (n+2)!(3)^-1…), where, n=1, is transcendental. Here “u” indicates concatenation of each term with the next term . (1) indicates the degree of the factorial A degree of a factorial indicates the amount of times a factorial of a positive integer >0 is iterated.
One can easily understand this by looking at the first three terms of this series as an example.
(1!(1)^-1 U (1+1)!(2)^-1 U (1+2)!(3)^-1 U …..)
The first few digits of my number is: 1.22601218943565795100204903227081043611191521875016945785727541837850835631156947382240678577958130457082619920575892247259536641565162052015873791984587740832529105244690388811884123764341191951045505346658616243271940197113909845536727278537099345629855586719369774070003700430783758997420676784016967207846280629229032107161669867260548988445514257193985499448939594496064045132362140265986193073249369770477606067680670176491669403034819961881455625195592566918830825514942947596537274845624628824234526597789737740896466553992435928786212515967483220976029505696699927284670563747137533019248313587076125412683415860129447566011455420749589952563543068288634631084965650682771552996256790845235702552186222358130016700834523443236821935793184701956510729781804354173890560727428048583995919729021726612291298420516067579036232337699453964191475175567557695392233803056825308599977441675784352815913461340394604901269542028838347101363733824484506660093348484440711931292537694657354337375724772230181534032647177531984537341478674327048457983786618703257405938924215709695994630557521063203263493209220738320923356309923267504401701760572026010829288042335606643089888710297380797578013056049576342838683057190662205291174822510536697756603029574043387983471518552602805333866357139101046336419769097397432285994219837046979109956303389604675889865795711176566670039156748153115943980043625399399731203066490601325311304719028898491856203766669164468791125249193754425845895000311561682974304641142538074897281723375955380661719801404677935614793635266265683339509760000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000…
I was only able to compute this using Wolfram Alpha for the first three terms however computing more terms of the infinite sequence is unfeasible as Wolfram starts to clam up.
As always, I welcome my readership to give a proof that this number is transcendental. This number was inspired by the Liouville Constant and the Copland-Erdos Constant.
Thank you for reading this article
Nunghead