Evaluating Infinite Series Involving Harmonic Numbers by Integration

A number of results concerning infinite series are presented in this chapter. The material spans convergence tests for series of constants, uniform convergence for series of functions, and power series. It is not the intention here to give a comprehensive account of this theory, but rather to review material that is relevant to later chapters. This chapter is intended to make the rest of the book more self contained and remind the reader of some basic results. It is assumed that the reader has a background in real analysis of a single variable and elementary complex analysis; consequently, no attempt is made to prove these results or provide examples. Proofs and examples can be found in textbooks on real analysis such as Apostol (Mathematical Analysis, Addison-Wesley, 2nd ed., 1974), Fulks (Advanced Calculus, 3rd ed., Wiley, 1978), and Little et al. (Real Analysis via Sequences and Series, Springer-Verlag, 2015) and complex analysis (Ahlfors, Complex Analysis, McGraw-Hill, 2nd ed., 1966; Brown and Churchill, Complex Variables and Applications, McGraw-Hill, 7th ed., 2004; Priestley, Introduction to Complex Analysis, Rev. ed., Oxford University Press, 1990). The exception is in the final section on double sequences and series. This material is often not part of courses on real or complex analysis. Here we provide proofs, examples and exercises.

A general transformation formula between an infinite double series and an infinite single sum is established, which specializes to several infinite double series identities, including a recent one due to Lyons, Paule and Riese (2002).

By means of Abel’s lemma on summation by parts, we derive several infinite series identities, which involve the classical harmonic numbers and their variants.

The unified Ω-series of the Gauss and Bailey $$_2F_1(\frac{1}{2})$$-sums will be investigated by utilizing asymptotic methods and the modified Abel lemma on summation by parts. Several remarkable transformation theorems for the Ω-series will be proved whose particular cases turn out to be strange evaluations of nonterminating hypergeometric series and infinite series identities of Ramanujan-type, including a couple of beautiful expressions for π and the Catalan constant discovered by Guillera (2008).

B.C. Berndt has established many relations between various infinite series using a transformation formula for a large class of functions, which comes from a more general class of Eisenstein series. In this paper, continuing his study, we find some infinite series identities.

In order to make progress in number theory, it is sometimes necessary to use techniques from other areas of mathematics, such as algebra, analysis or geometry. In this chapter we give some number-theoretic applications of the theory of infinite series. These are based on the properties of the Riemann zeta function ς(s), which provides a link between number theory and real and complex analysis. Some of the results we obtain have probabilistic interpretations in terms of random integers. For the background on convergence of infinite series, see Appendix C. For a detailed treatment of ς(s), see Titchmarsh (1951).

Applying the modified Abel lemma on summation by parts, we examine infinite series containing generalized harmonic numbers of order 2 and 3. Several interesting results mainly for $$\pi ^2$$ and $$\zeta (3)$$ are established as consequences.

Chapter 9 of Ramanujan’s Second Notebook: Infinite Series Identities, Transformations, and Evaluations

By means of two hypergeometric summation formulae, we establish two large classes of infinite series identities with harmonic numbers and central binomial coefficients. Up to now, these numerous formulae have hidden behind very few known identities of Apéry-like series for Riemann-zeta function, discovered mainly by Lehmer [14] and Elsner [12] as well as Borwein et al. [4, 5, 7]. All the computation and verification are carried out by an appropriately-devised Mathematica package.

A variety of identities involving harmonic numbers and generalized harmonic numbers have been investigated since the distant past and involved in a wide range of diverse fields such as analysis of algorithms in computer science, various branches of number theory, elementary particle physics, and theoretical physics. Here we show how one can obtain further interesting and (almost) serendipitous identities about certain finite or infinite series involving binomial coefficients, harmonic numbers, and generalized harmonic numbers by simply applying the usual differential operator to well-known Gauss’s summation formula for2F1(1).

By applying multiplicate forms of the Carlitz inverse series relations to the $q$-Pfaff-Saalschtz summation theorem, we establish twenty five nonterminating $q$-series identities with several of them serving as $q$-analogues of infinite series expressions for $\pi$ and $1/\pi$, including some typical ones discovered by Ramanujan (1914) and Guillera.

Binomial series involving harmonic polynomials are expressed in terms of parametric integrals. By evaluating these parametric integrals, we establish several remarkable closed formulae for the infinite series containing both central binomial coefficients and harmonic numbers. Most of the values for binomial series found in this paper concern the dilogarithm and trilogarithm functions.

In learning complex analysis, the residue theorem is the easiest thing to touch. Then in higher mathematics, these concepts are often very abstract, and all exist in graphics. Therefore, the author summarizes the practical application of the residue theorem with reference to other papers. There are many application directions. The simplest and practical application is in generalized integral. This paper introduces the research study topic of the application of generalized residue theorem in Laplace Inverse transform. The application methods and skills of generalized residue theorem in Laplace Inverse transform are discussed in detail through concrete examples. Based on the teaching process of Laplace transformation in mathematical analysis, differential equation or mathematical equation, and the problems and puzzles in the application of Laplace transformation, this paper presents a research-based learning theme. In this paper on the application of residue theorem to series, a new method of summation of infinite series is given based on residue theorem. In this method, the sum of series is transformed into the sum of residues of a complex valued function in a closed domain.

This contribution, which is a follow-up to author’s paper [1] dealing with the sums of the series of reciprocals of some quadratic polynomials, deals with the series of reciprocals of the cubic polynomials with triple non-positive integer root. Three formulas for the sum of this kind of series expressed by means of harmonic numbers are derived and presented, together with one approximate formula, and verified by several examples evaluated using the basic programming language of the computer algebra system Maple 16. This contribution can be an inspiration for teachers who are teaching the topic Infinite series or as a subject matter for work with talented students.

In this paper, we study the alternating Euler T -sums and S ˜ -sums, which are infinite series involving (alternating) odd harmonic numbers, and have similar forms and close relations to the Dirichlet beta functions. By using the method of residue computations, we establish the explicit formulas for the (alternating) linear and quadratic Euler T -sums and S ˜ -sums, from which, the parity theorems of Hoffman’s double and triple t -values and Kaneko–Tsumura’s double and triple T -values are further obtained. As supplements, we also show that the linear T -sums and S ˜ -sums are expressible in terms of colored multiple zeta values. Some interesting consequences and illustrative examples are presented.