Aug 29, 2017
1+2+3+4+...
I’ve always enjoyed a good series. There are a lot of them out there. The one that I really like is the infinite sum of natural numbers.
Numberphile did a good job covering this series.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-I6XTVZXww
I like it because the unusual answer to this infinite series appears in physics.
The answer to the above series is -1/12
1+2+3+4+……. = -1/12
It is not easy to understand this results from mathematical point of view and trying to apply this to physics in string theory or quantum field theory requires suspension of disbelief.