SOME OF RAMANUJAN’S RESULTS

These are fifteen of the approximately 120 results that appear in Ramanujan’s first
letter to Hardy, as published by Hardy. The numbering is due to Hardy.
3! 6!
(1.1) 1 − 3
x2 + x4 − · · · =
(1!2!) (2!4!)3
( )( )
x x2 x x2
1+ + + ··· 1− + − ···
(1!)3 (2!)3 (1!)3 (2!)3

( )3 ( )3 ( )3
1 1·3 1·3·5 2
(1.2) 1−5 +9 − 13 + ··· =
2 2·4 2·4·6 π

( )4 ( )4 ( )4 √
1 1·5 1·5·9 2 2
(1.3) 1+9 + 17 + 25 + ··· = √
4 4·8 4 · 8 · 12 πΓ( 34 )2

( )5 ( )5 ( )5
1 1·3 1·3·5 2
(1.4) 1−5 +9 − 13 + ··· =
2 2·4 2·4·6 Γ( 43 )4

( )2 ( )2
∫ ∞ 1+ x
1+ x √
b+1 b+2 π Γ(a + 12 )Γ(b + 1)Γ(b − a + 21 )
(1.5) ( x )2 · ( )2 · · · dx =
0 1+ x 2 Γ(a)Γ(b + 21 )Γ(b − a + 1)
a 1+ a+1

∫ ∞
dx π
(1.6) =
0 (1 + x2 )(1 + r2 x2 )(1 + r 4 x2 ) · · · 2(1 + r + r3 + r6 + r10 + · · · )

(1.7) If αβ = π 2 , then
( ∫ ) ( ∫ )
∞ −αx2 ∞ −βx2
− 41 xe xe
= β− 4
1
α 1 + 4α dx 1 + 4β dx .
0 e2πx − 1 0 e2πx − 1

∫ √
π e−a 1 2 3
a 2
−x2 4
(1.8) e dx = −
0 2 2a+ a+ 2a+ a+ 2a + · · ·

∫ ∞
√
xe−x 5 1 12 12 22 22 32 32
(1.9) 4 dx =
0 cosh x 1+ 1+ 1+ 1+ 1+ 1+ 1 + · · ·
Typeset by AMS-TEX
1
2 SOME OF RAMANUJAN’S RESULTS

(1.10) If
1
x x5 x10 x15 x 5 x x2 x3
u= and v = ,
1+ 1+ 1+ 1 + · · · 1+ 1+ 1+ 1 + · · ·
then
51 − 2u + 4u2 − 3u3 + u4
v =u .
1 + 3u + 4u2 + 2u3 + u4

√ 
−2π −4π
√ √
1 e e 5+ 5 5 + 1 2π
(1.11) = − e5
1+ 1+ 1 + · · · 2 2

 

 

√ √ 
 √ √ 
1 e−2π 5
e−4π 5 5 5 + 1 2π
√
(1.12)
1+ 1+ 1 + ···
=
 [ (√ ) 25 ] 15 − 2 
e 5


 

1 + 54
3 5−1
−1 
2

√
2·4 ) k + · · · and F (1 − k) =
(1.13) If F (k) = 1 + ( 12 )2 k + ( 1·3 2 2
210F (k), then
√ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √ √
k = ( 2−1)4 (2− 3)2 ( 7− 6)4 (8−3 7)2 ( 10−3)4 (4− 15)4 ( 15− 14)2 (6− 35)2 .

(1.14) The coefficient of xn in (1 − 2x + 2x4 − 2x9 + · · · )−1 is the integer nearest to

( √ )
1 √ sinh π n
cosh π n − √ .
4n π n

(1.15) The number of numbers between A and x which are either squares or sums
of two squares is ∫ x
dt
K √ + θ(x),
A log t
where K = 0.764 . . . and θ(x) is very small compared with the previous integral.