_: is the verb infinity. You need a noun to get a calculated result. But
what is he trying to say? Obviously the sum cannot equal 1r12. So what is
(-1/12) supposed to mean?

On Mon, Jan 20, 2014 at 10:23 PM, Richard Hill <[email protected]> wrote:

> The following statement is copied from Lubos Motl's physics blog...
>
> the sum of positive integers should be assigned the value \(-1/12\).
> However, this profound truth reigns not only in string theory but in any
> theory where some free fields periodically depend on two dimensions. That's
> why one may verify that the sum equals \(-1/12\) even in QED, by measuring
> the Casimir force between two plates. It's really an important insight in
> all of physics and all approaches to mathematics of functions that wants to
> respect the same kind of "deep mathematical wisdom and elegance" that is
> exhibited by Nature through quantum field theory and string theory.
>
> He says this was known to Euler
>
> When I try it in J 604
>
> I get
>    +/i.@ _:
> ┌─────┬──┬──┐
> │┌─┬─┐│i.│_:│
> ││+│/││  │  │
> │└─┴─┘│  │  │
> └─────┴──┴──┘
> but
>    +/ i. 10E7
> 5e15
> And
>    +/ i. 10E8
> |limit error
> |   +/    i.1000000000
> Which is what I expected
> Is there any way the "profound truth" can be expressed in J?
>
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