Mathematics Commons^™

Euler Archive Spotlight: Translations Of Euler's Works To Languages Other Than English, Michael P. Saclolo

Euleriana

The Euler Archive is home to almost all of Euler’s original publications and roughly a quarter of them have accompanying translations to English. A small number of Euler’s works also have translations to a handful of other languages, namely, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, and Turkish that are available in the archive. We put a spotlight on these non-English translations in this issue.

Perfect Numbers, Uwe Hassler

Euleriana

We provide a selected review of results known or conjectured before Euler entered and changed the quest for perfect numbers. Then we discuss his contributions to the determination of Mersenne primes that fueled research on primality tests.

Euler’S Variational Approach To The Elastica, Sylvio R. Bistafa

Euleriana

The history of the elastica is examined through the works of various contributors, including those of Jacob and Daniel Bernoulli, since its first appearance in a 1690 contest on finding the profile of a hanging flexible cord. Emphasis will be given to Leonhard Euler’s variational approach to the elastica, laid out in his landmark 1744 book on variational techniques. Euler’s variational approach based on the concept of differential value is highlighted, including the derivation of the general equation for the elastica from the differential value of the first kind, from which nine shapes adopted by a flexed lamina under different …

Euler’S First Proof Of Stirling’S Formula, Alexander Aycock

Euleriana

We present a proof given by Euler in his paper “De serierum determinatione
seu nova methodus inveniendi terminos generales serierum” [4] (E189:“On
the determination of series or a new method of finding the general terms
of series”) for Stirling’s formula. Euler’s proof uses his theory of difference
equations with constant coefficients. This theory outgrew from his ear-
lier considerations on inhomogeneous differential equations with constant
coefficients of finite order that he tried to extend to the case of infinite
order.

On Euler's Solution Of The Simple Difference Equation, Alexander Aycock

Euleriana

In this note we will discuss Euler's solution of the simple difference equation that he gave in his paper{\it ``De serierum determinatione seu nova methodus inveniendi terminos generales serierum"} \cite{E189} (E189:``On the determination of series or a new method of finding the general terms of series") and also present a derivation for the values of the Riemann $\zeta$-function at positive integer numbers based on Euler's ideas.

Euler And The Legendre Polynomials, Alexander Aycock

Euleriana

In this note we will present how Euler's investigations on various different subjects lead to certain properties of the Legendre polynomials. More precisely, we will show that the generating function and the difference equation for the Legendre polynomials was already written down by Euler in at least two different papers. Furthermore, we will demonstrate that some familiar expressions for the Legendre polynomials are corollaries of the before-mentioned works. Finally, we will show that Euler's ideas on continued fractions lead to an integral representation for the Legendre polynomials that seems to be less generally known.

Solution Of The Diophantine Equation (Maa+Nbb)=Cd(Mcc+Ndd) Using Rational Numbers, Georg Ehlers

Euleriana

This paper (E716) was published in Nova acta Academiae scientiarum imperialis petropolitanae, Volume 13 (1795/96), pp. 45-63. It was also included in Commentationes Arithmeticae, Volume II, as Number LXVIII, pp. 281-293 (E791). Euler starts with Fermat's Last Theorem and mentions the proofs for the cases n=3 and n=4 which he had completed himself earlier. He then moves on to make the sum of powers conjecture, which was later disproved in the second half of the 20th century. In this context he discusses his discovery of 134^4+133^4=158^4+59^4, which he calls unexpected. Euler derives the title equation from A^4+B^4=C^4+D^4, generalizing it to …

On The Motion Of The Nodes Of The Moon And The Variation Of Its Inclination To The Ecliptic (An English Translation Of De Motu Nodorum Lunae Eiusque Inclinationis Ad Eclipticam Variatione), Patrick T. Headley

Euleriana

In this paper Euler attempts to explain some features of the motion of the Moon using Newton’s inverse-square law of gravity. He describes the evidence in favor of Newton’s theory but also the lack of progress in the study of lunar motion due to the difficulty of the three-body problem, arising here since both the Sun and the Earth have large effects on the Moon. He proceeds to investigate the line of intersection between the planes of the Earth's orbit and the Moon's orbit, as well as the angle between the two planes.

The Wide Scope Of Euler’S Work, Christopher Goff, Erik R. Tou

Euleriana

An introduction to the contents in Issue 2, Volume 3 of Euleriana.

Production Functions Of Ncaa Men And Women Water Polo Matches, Joey Gullikson, Lewis R. Gale, John Mayberry, Lara Killick, John Kim

College of the Pacific Faculty Articles

Previous research has adapted the use of economic production functions to estimate the scoring production of teams in professional sports. Most of these studies have focused on professional male team sports, most notably, US baseball, basketball, and association football. This study adds to the literature by utilizing a new and distinctive data set of shooting statistics from 88 men’s and 38 women’s NCAA water polo contests to estimate production functions for United States’ collegiate water polo games and identify the most important variables for predicting margin of victory in such competitions. The results show that shots on goal, average shot …

Euler Archive Spotlight, Erik R. Tou

Euleriana

A survey of two translations posted to the Euler Archive in 2022.

Euler And The Duplication Formula For The Gamma-Function, Alexander Aycock

Euleriana

We show how the formulas in Euler’s paper "Variae considerationes circa series
hypergeometricas" [ 4] imply Legendre’s duplication formula for the Γ-function. This
paper can be seen as an Addendum to [2].

Euler Found The First Binary Digit Extraction Formula For Π In 1779, Nick Craig-Wood

Euleriana

In 1779 Euler discovered two formulas for π which can be used to calculate any binary digit of π without calculating the previous digits. Up until now it was believed that the first formula with the correct properties (known as a BBP-type formula) for this calculation was published by Bailey, Borwein and Plouffe in 1997.

Analytical Observations (Translation Of E326), Cynthia Huffman Ph.D.

Euleriana

Euler, in this publication with Eneström number E326, provides an induction fallacy which arises from analyzing a particular sequence. Euler wrote this work in 1763, one of only two papers he wrote on sequences and/or series in the 1760’s, out of a total of 79 papers on series during his career. His goal in E326 is to investigate the middle terms in the expansion of powers of quadratic trinomial expressions, beginning with the specific simple quadratic , before considering the general quadratic .

The induction fallacy shows up during the analysis of the simple case when Euler first finds an …

Euler's Anticipations, Christopher Goff, Erik Tou

Euleriana

Welcome to Volume 3 of Euleriana. This issue highlights occasions where Euler's work anticipated future results from other others, sometimes by decades or even centuries!