Basel Problem Proof

Cody Dianopoulos
Joran Layne
Alex Yokokawa
June 10, 2013
Abstract
In 1644, Pietro Mengoli questioned the mathematical society about the
sum of the reciprocals of the perfect square numbers. Thanks to Leonhard
Euler in 1735, we now know that

n=1
1
n
2
=

2
6
But why is this true? We can thank calculus for these results.
1
Contents
1 Introduction 3
2 Convergence 3
3 Eulers First Attempt 4
4 Fourier Series 6
5 The Proof 6
6 References 7
2
1 Introduction
Pietro Mengoli asked the mathematical community in 1644 to nd the sum

n=1
1
n
2
=
1
1
2
+
1
2
2
+
1
3
2
+ . . .
After puzzling the cleverest of mathematicians, no results showed up. Fortu-
nately, word got around to twenty-eight-year-old Leonhard Euler, whose solution
debuted him to the mathematical genius as he is know today. Euler has proven
that this sum converges to

2
6
. This problem was an important conquest in
number theory, as it relates to the Riemann-zeta function:
(n) =

i=1
1
i
n
=
1
1
n
+
1
2
n
+
1
3
n
+ . . .
Finding the complex zeros to this function is currently a $1-million Millenium
Prize Problem. But all of this was kickstarted by Leonhard Eulers solution to
the Basel problem.
2 Convergence
We will dene the Basel Problem sum to be , and prove it to equal

2
6
. By
denition, is a p-series with a value of n = 2. We can tell that it converges
right o the bat because 2 > 1. But, we want a bit more rigorous proof of its
convergence.
We are going to use the comparison test to prove its convergence. Term by
term,
_
1
1
2
_
+
_
1
2
2
+
1
3
2
_
+
_
1
4
2
+
1
5
2
+
1
6
2
+
1
7
2
_
+ <
_
1
1
2
_
+
_
1
2
2
+
1
2
2
_
+
_
1
4
2
+
1
4
2
+
1
4
2
+
1
4
2
_
+ <
1
1
+
1
2
+
1
4
+ . . .
By comparison to the second series, which converges to 2 as a geometric
series with initial term 1 and common ratio of 1 <
1
2
< 1. So, by comparison,
we can see that converges to some 0 < < 2. A graph of the partial sums
helps visualize the convergence:

2
6

3
Alternatively, s convergence can be proven by the integral test. Consider
the function
f (x) =
1
x
2
One of the convergent integrals of this function is
_

1
dx
x
2
=
_

1
x
_

1
= 1
Using a right-endpoint Riemann sum with equal widths of 1 at each integral
value of x, we have
_

1
dx
x
2

_
1
2
2
+
1
3
2
+
1
4
2
+ . . .
_
But, since f (x) is decreasing and concave up on the interval (1, ), the
approximation, and an underapproximation (shown in the gure below). Thus,
0 <
1
2
2
+
1
3
2
+
1
4
2
+ < 1
This implies that the sequence is convergent and
1 <
1
1
2
+
1
2
2
+
1
3
2
+
1
4
2
+ < 2
1 2 3 4 5
0.25
0.5
0.75
1
3 Eulers First Attempt
Euler begins his research by giving a clever approximation of an integral that
yields :
1
1
2
+
1
2
2
+
1
3
2
+ = lim
n
_
1
0
_
x
0
1 y
n
1 y
dydx 1.644924
Euler, being a clever mathematician, recognized this to be near

2
6
= 1.644934.
Using this information, he turned his attention to trigonometric functions, and
his proof is as follows.
4
Lemma 1.
sin x
x
is equivalent to its innite product.
Proof. sin x has roots at 0, , 2, 3, . . . . This means that
sin x
x
has roots
at , 2, 3, . . . . Leonhard Euler thus asserts without proof that
sin x
x
=
_
1
x

__
1 +
x

__
1
x
2
__
1 +
x
2
_
=
_
1
x
2

2
__
1
x
2
4
2
__
1
x
2
9
2
_
. . .
This is the downfall of his proof.
Lemma 2.
sin x
x
is equivalent to its innite series.
Proof. Consider the Maclaurin series for
sin x = x
x
3
3!
+
x
5
5!
. . .
Thus,
sin x
x
= 1
x
2
3!
+
x
4
5!
. . .
Lemma 3. =

2
6
Proof. From Lemmas 1 and 2, we can tell that
_
1
x
2

2
__
1
x
2
4
2
__
1
x
2
9
2
_
= 1
x
2
3!
+
x
4
5!
. . .
This means that we can end up expanding the left-hand equation and get
the same innite series with the same coecients. He proceeds to assert that,
using the coecient of the x
2
terms in the right-hand equation and after innite
expansion of the left-hand side for just the x
2
coecient,

1
3!
=
1

2

1
4
2

1
9
2
=
1

2
_
1
1
+
1
4
+
1
9
+ . . .
_
=

2
Solving for , we get =

2
6
.
But this proof is lled with many gaps, so a stronger and more rigorous
proof was sought.
5
4 Fourier Series
As with Taylor series expansions of functions as power series, there is a way of
representing functions in a dierent way using sin x and cos x called harmonic
analysis. The basis of harmonic analysis is the Fourier series. The Fourier
series says that a periodic function can be represented as an innite sum in the
following way for some sequences of coecients a
n
and b
n
:
f (x) =
a
0
2
+

n=1
(a
n
cos (nx) + b
n
sin (nx))
It turns out that these coecients can be computed using these formulas:
a
0
=
1

f (x) dx
a
n
=
1

f (x) cos (nx) dx

b
n
=
1

f (x) sin (nx) dx

Finding the Fourier series for specic functions comes in handy for this very
problem.
5 The Proof
Theorem 1. =

2
6
Proof. Using Fourier series, we can solve this problem rather easily. Euler pre-
dicted that =

2
6
, so we know that the function somewhere will involve the
function f (x) = x
2
. So lets expand x
2
using Fourier series.
a
0
=
1

x
2
dx =
1

_
x
3
3
_

=
2
2
3
b
n
=
1

x
2
sin (nx) dx = 0 since x
2
sin (nx) is odd
Now to nd
_
x
2
cos (nx) dx, we will need to integrate by parts twice.
_
x
2
cos (nx) dx =
x
2
sin (nx)
n

_
2x
sin (nx)
n
dx =
x
2
sin (nx)
n

2
n
_
xsin (nx) dx =
x
2
sin (nx)
n

2
n
_
xcos x
n

_
cos (nx)
n
dx
_
=
6
x
2
sin (nx)
n
+
2xcos (nx)
n
2

2 sin (nx) dx
n
3
+ C
Now, we must evaluate this as a denite integral. From to , we compute
the integral to be
a
n
=
1

x
2
cos (nx) dx =
2
_

2
n
2
2
_
sin (n) + 4n cos (n)
n
3

But since the series only requires integral values of n, sin (n) = 0 for integral
n, and cos (n) = (1)
n
for integral values of n,
a
n
=
4 (1)
n
n
2
This means that the Fourier series for x
2
is
x
2
=

2
3
+

n=1
4 (1)
n
n
2
cos (nx)
Lastly, substitute x = and end up with

2
=

2
3
+

n=1
4 (1)
n
n
2
cos (n) =

2
3
+

n=1
4 (1)
2n
n
2
=

2
3
+ 4

n=1
1
n
2
=

2
3
+ 4
Solving for , we get that =

2
6
.
This proof, much more substantial and rigorous than Eulers proof, gives
valid evidence that
=

n=1
1
n
2
=

2
6
6 References
Sandifer, Ed. How Euler Did It: Estimating the Basel Problem. MAA.org.
Mathematical Association of America, Dec. 2003. Web. 4 June 2013.
Sangwin, C.J. An Innite Series of Surprises. Plus.Maths.org. Plus
Magazine, 1 Dec. 2001. Web. 4 June 2013.
7