Epic pi quest sets 10 trillion digit record

[C1]

http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/shortsharpscience/2011/10/pi-10-trillion.html

Seems these guys should have consulted anandtechies for a machine/hardware architecture to do this (eg, water cooled and use of RAID, enterprise HDDs, etc.).

What kind of rig would you use/recommend?
Maybe we can send them a design for the next pass - 1 Quadrillion !

 

[Howard]

Is this endeavor fruitful at all?

 

[pw38]

Well, in the novel version of Contact, as per the roundabout suggestion of the aliens they started calculating pi out until eventually they started seeing patterns, possibly hinting at a higher authority. Sort of a creators signature if you will. Math apparently is the best way to determine intelligence.

 

[C1]

Hmmm.......
Maybe your on to something.
People have tried to analyze bible scripture for encoded messages, how about attempting to analyze "Pi" or "e" to find God? Could end up writing a book on the findings and become famous.

 

[Howard]

Well, in the novel version of Contact, as per the roundabout suggestion of the aliens they started calculating pi out until eventually they started seeing patterns, possibly hinting at a higher authority. Sort of a creators signature if you will. Math apparently is the best way to determine intelligence.

Do you think we have anything that can analyze 10 trillion digits for a meaningful pattern?

 

[pandemonium]

Interesting. This led me to learn about the Bailey–Borwein–Plouffe formula.

 

[Sunny129]

Is this endeavor fruitful at all?

no, the folks who did it were just trying to break a previous record.

Well, in the novel version of Contact, as per the roundabout suggestion of the aliens they started calculating pi out until eventually they started seeing patterns, possibly hinting at a higher authority. Sort of a creators signature if you will. Math apparently is the best way to determine intelligence.

...except that in reality we know that Pi is irrational number and therefore never repeats or shows any patterns...

Do you think we have anything that can analyze 10 trillion digits for a meaningful pattern?

yes - computers. based on your previous question, i'm assuming you only skimmed over the article...the Bailey–Borwein–Plouffe formula that pandemonium mentioned above is the same formula that the record setters used to check the accuracy of individual digits and therefore confirm the accuracy of Pi out to 10 trillion digits, as mentioned in the article. i guarantee you they did not use the formula 10 trillions times by hand to check their work (or else it would be several more years before this work was confirmed), and that instead a computer using a "Bailey–Borwein–Plouffe formula" algorithm was actually responsible for checking the work. if a computer can use an algorithm to check the validity of individual digits of Pi, then surely it can use an algorithm that can check for patterns or repeating sets of digits within the 10 trillion digits of Pi.

 

[Howard]

yes - computers. based on your previous question, i'm assuming you only skimmed over the article...the Bailey–Borwein–Plouffe formula that pandemonium mentioned above is the same formula that the record setters used to check the accuracy of individual digits and therefore confirm the accuracy of Pi out to 10 trillion digits, as mentioned in the article. i guarantee you they did not use the formula 10 trillions times by hand to check their work (or else it would be several more years before this work was confirmed), and that instead a computer using a "Bailey–Borwein–Plouffe formula" algorithm was actually responsible for checking the work. if a computer can use an algorithm to check the validity of individual digits of Pi, then surely it can use an algorithm that can check for patterns or repeating sets of digits within the 10 trillion digits of Pi.

No, I did do a little more than "skim". Are you conjecturing that repeating sets of digits will tell us something meaningful?

 

[Sunny129]

No, I did do a little more than "skim". Are you conjecturing that repeating sets of digits will tell us something meaningful?

it depends on the context. as pw38 mentioned, such patterns can be used to hide a "bigger picture" or at the very least provide a primer for deciphering encrypted messages for example...granted, the parallel he drew was based on a fictional novel, but repeating digital patterns have been used god knows how many times before to mask something more meaningful. on the flip side, i'm sure there are plenty of repeating patterns, both natural and synthetic, that aren't meaningful at all...again, it just depends on the context.

i think i missed a key part of your question (specifically, the bold):

Do you think we have anything that can analyze 10 trillion digits for a meaningful pattern?

without a doubt computers can be used to uncover/recognize digital patterns...whether or not a computer can then determine if the pattern is useful/meaningful, i don't know. i would imagine in some cases yes, but that in other cases, the deductive reasoning of the human mind may then be required to find meaning in a computer-recognized pattern.

 

[C1]

The posts are beginning to remind me of a couple SciFi stories. One is a movie called PI (which is one of my favorites) and the other is is an old Arthur C. Clarke story title "The Nine Billion Names of God".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQYYGwYTPuY
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nine_Billion_Names_of_God

 

[pw38]

...except that in reality we know that Pi is irrational number and therefore never repeats or shows any patterns...

It's just reminded me of the novel. It's a sort of chuckle moment once you realize that order can seemingly come from chaos. Just ties into the theme of the book is all.

 

[firewolfsm]

I'm trying to figure out what kind of computer setup he had. Apparently it's just a home built server.

 

[gevorg]

Oh, and in case you are wondering, the 10 trillionth digit is 5.

lol