A074455 Consider the volume of unit sphere as a function of the dimension d; maximize this as a function of d (considered as a continuous variable); sequence gives decimal expansion of the best d.

5, 2, 5, 6, 9, 4, 6, 4, 0, 4, 8, 6, 0, 5, 7, 6, 7, 8, 0, 1, 3, 2, 8, 3, 8, 3, 8, 8, 6, 9, 0, 7, 6, 9, 2, 3, 6, 6, 1, 9, 0, 1, 7, 2, 3, 7, 1, 8, 3, 2, 1, 4, 8, 5, 7, 5, 0, 9, 8, 7, 9, 6, 7, 8, 7, 7, 7, 1, 0, 9, 3, 4, 6, 7, 3, 6, 8, 2, 0, 2, 7, 2, 8, 1, 7, 7, 2, 0, 2, 3, 8, 4, 8, 9, 7, 9, 2, 4, 6, 9, 2, 6

Offset: 1

Author

Robert G. Wilson v, Aug 22 2002

Keywords

• cons
• nonn

Comments

From David W. Wilson, Jul 12 2007: (Start)

For an integer d, the volume of a d-dimensional unit ball is v(d) = Pi^(d/2)/(d/2)! and its surface area is area(d) = d*Pi^(d/2)/(d/2)! = d*v(d). If we interpolate n! = gamma(n+1) we can define v(d) and area(d) as continuous functions for (at least) d >= 0.

A074457 purports to minimize area(d). Since area(d+2) = 2*Pi*v(d), area() is minimized at y = x+2; therefore A074457 coincides with the current sequence except at the first term. (End)

Examples

			5.256946404860576780132838388690769236619017237183214857509879678777109...
		

References

• J. H. Conway and N. J. A. Sloane, "Sphere Packings, Lattices and Groups", Springer-Verlag, p. 9.
• Steven R. Finch, Mathematical Constants, Encyclopedia of Mathematics and its Applications, vol. 94, Cambridge University Press, 2003, Section 1.5.4, p. 34.
• David Wells, The Penguin Dictionary of Curious and Interesting Numbers. Penguin Books, NY, 1986, Revised edition 1987. See p. 67.

Links

• Brian Hayes, An Adventure in the Nth Dimension, pp. 30-42 of M. Pitici, editor, The Best Writing on Mathematics 2012, Princeton Univ. Press, 2012. See p. 42. - From _N. J. A. Sloane_, Jan 13 2013; alternative link.
• Eric Weisstein's World of Mathematics, Ball.

Crossrefs

Cf. A074457.

The volume is given by A074454. Cf. A072345 & A072346.

Programs

Mathematica

x /. FindRoot[ PolyGamma[1 + x/2] == Log[Pi], {x, 5}, WorkingPrecision -> 105] // RealDigits // First (* Jean-François Alcover, Mar 28 2013 *)

PARI

hyperspheresurface(d)=2*Pi^(d/2)/gamma(d/2)
hyperspherevolume(d)=hyperspheresurface(d)/d
FindMax(fn_x,lo,hi)=
{
local(oldprecision, x, y, z);
oldprecision = default(realprecision);
default(realprecision, oldprecision+10);
while (hi-lo > 10^-oldprecision,
while (1,
z = vector(2, i, lo*(3-i)/3 + hi*i/3);
y = vector(2, i, eval(Str("x = z[" i "]; " fn_x)));
if (abs(y[1]-y[2]) > 10^(5-default(realprecision)), break);
default(realprecision, default(realprecision)+10);
);
if (y[1] < y[2], lo = z[1], hi = z[2]);
);
default(realprecision, oldprecision);
(lo + hi) / 2.
}
default(realprecision, 105);
A074455=FindMax("hyperspherevolume(x)", 1, 9)
A074457=FindMax("hyperspheresurface(x)", 1, 9)
A074454=hyperspherevolume(A074455)
A074456=hyperspheresurface(A074457)
/* David W. Cantrell */

PARI

2 * (solve(x=3, 4, psi(x) - log(Pi)) - 1) \\ Jianing Song, May 12 2025

Formula

d = root of Psi((1/2)*d + 1) = log(Pi).

d is 2 less than the number with decimal digits A074457 (the hypersphere dimension that maximizes hypersurface area). - Eric W. Weisstein, Dec 02 2014

Extensions

Corrected by Eric W. Weisstein, Aug 31 2003

Corrected by Martin Fuller, Jul 12 2007