(ORDO NEWS) — We hasten to announce joyful news for all those who are not indifferent to mathematics and true apologists for the queen of sciences.
On March 14, there is a legitimate reason to bake (at least try) a round cake with the Greek letter “pi” applied on top or compete in a circle of like-minded people in the abilities of their memory – who can say more decimal places of one of the most unusual numbers in science?
Do not be surprised by the proposals voiced: March 14th is International Pi Day. The date for honoring the constant was chosen in 1987 by the American physicist Larry Shaw, who made simple observations.
The most “running” record of the number Pi – 3.14 – coincides with March 14, if we start from the month / day date recording system installed in the USA.
Shaw did not stop there and even managed to determine the “sacred” time for the veneration of the mathematical constant – 1 am 59 minutes 26 seconds.
Those who understand the topic can easily solve this puzzle, and for those who remember only the textbook school “3.14”, we will explain: the next five digits of Pi – 15926 – fit perfectly on the electronic timer display.
Formally, we all overslept, but you should not be upset: for those who are used to measuring the day in 24 hours, the celebration time smoothly flows to 13:59:26.
Such attention to the mathematical “person” is by no means accidental. Many scientists believe that the solution to the number Pi will reveal to mankind the secret of the structure of the Universe.
Some “geeks” (people who are extremely passionate about something – approx. “RG”) compete to get into the Guinness Book of Records (we will tell you in secret that the Indian Rajvir Mina reproduced about 70 thousand digits after the decimal point).
And if you are filled with incredible love for the number Pi, then we recommend that you try your luck and try to join the Pi Club.
Getting the coveted ticket, however, will not be an easy task: as reported by numerous web resources dedicated to the constant, the new participant is required to list the maximum number of characters that he can repeat from memory.
Even Masons did not stand next to such an examination.
Why does everything around unconditionally belong to the number Pi? Does it really contain the very essence of the universe?
And is it possible to find the password to your phone or your bank account in an endless stream of numbers?
We share facts about the most attractive constant in mathematics – perhaps you did not even know about some of them.
To infinity and beyond
In 2022, scientists have updated the officially recorded number of digits in the number of pi after the decimal point – now science reports 100 trillion digits.
Surprisingly, there are no boundaries for further calculations: the mathematical constant is simply infinite.
Another thing is also striking: it will take more than three million years to read all the decimal places – one second for each.
The mentioned achievement of the Indian Rajvir Mina – the reproduction of 70 thousand digits – was given to him in about 10 hours.
The infinity of the Pi number also indicates that, potentially, absolutely any combination of numbers can be found in the sequence of characters – from the series and passport number to bank details.
In other words, everything that you are theoretically able to think of already contains a constant.
By the way, in an endless series of decimal places there is a chain of six nines, and in mathematics this place in Pi is called the Feynman point. It occurs at 762 positions.
According to historical sources, the American physicist Richard Feynman in one of his lectures half-jokingly shared with students his desire to remember all the numbers up to 762 positions in order to end the conversation with the words “nine, nine, nine, nine, nine, nine, and so on.”
The frivolity of the scientist’s statement was that he would thus hint at the rationality of the number Pi, while it is irrational.
If you want to experiment with the number Pi and the sequence of any numbers, the Internet will gladly provide such an opportunity.
On this site, it is enough to enter the first combination of numbers that comes to mind, and the result will not be long in coming.
It should be borne in mind that not every request will receive a satisfactory answer – simply because the number Pi is infinite and completely unknown.
For example, the sequence 111190 – the founding date of Rossiyskaya Gazeta – appears at position 1,084,127.
The whole universe in one number
There are many more irrational numbers – that is, those that cannot be written as a ratio of two integers – than rational ones. Our constant belongs to the first category.
The irrationality of pi inevitably leads to the conclusion that there are no repetitions in its infinite sequence of signs, in other words, there is no periodicity, like any rational decimal fraction.
This fact, in turn, in theory suggests that the entire Universe is recorded in the constant without exaggeration.
Let’s imagine for a moment: let’s say it was decided to encrypt all letters with numbers.
Through long mathematical operations, it was possible to completely write down “Demons” by F.M. Dostoevsky in the form of signs.
Thanks to the irrationality and infinity of the number Pi (recall, it has not been possible to prove the opposite at the moment!)
We inexorably come to the conclusion that sooner or later Fyodor Mikhailovich’s novel will be found in the “tail” of the decimal digits.
If you “dig” deeper, then a completely reasonable assumption arises, which in theory and taking into account the currently established data turns out to be absolutely true: the past, present and future are already among Pi.
Think about it: any book that hasn’t been written yet is digitally contained in a mathematical constant right now; any scientific hypothesis and any fundamental discovery that humanity has yet to formulate are also “hiding” somewhere among an endless string of signs; even this article is already reflected in the magic constant.
Such theses have the right to exist, moreover, they are scientifically substantiated.
Their consequence, according to scientists, may be the theory that the number Pi somehow controls the universe, the world around us and its physical laws.
Fortunately or unfortunately, deciphering the future of humanity, which – again, in theory – lies in the number Pi, is beyond the power of the scientific community. At least at the current stage.
It remains to believe that the number Pi has prepared for us the best path in the future.
Help “RG”
Pi is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. By historical standards, scientists began to designate the constant with the Greek letter π quite recently – the British mathematician William Jones was the first to do this in 1706, and Leonard Euler widely disseminated it somewhat later.
It is noteworthy that the number Pi became known 4000 years ago.
The Babylonians believed that the approximate value of the constant is 3.125. Some scholars are of the opinion that the number Pi was used in the construction of the Tower of Babel.
In the ancient world, the approximate value of pi was estimated differently: the Egyptians proceeded from the fact that the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter is 3.1604, while the Indians believed that it was 3.162.
Later, in the III century BC, the ancient Greek mathematician, physicist and engineer Archimedes deduced the first two decimal digits that turned out to be correct – 3.14.
At present, the unprecedentedly high power of computing clusters and computers makes it possible to determine the sequence of signs in the number Pi after the decimal point with absolute accuracy.
The number Pi is used in architecture – for the construction of dams, towers, bridges, in astronomy – for calculating orbital indicators, for making calculations in quantum mechanics and statistics.
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