Something nice about series

Stefano Nicotri∗
INFN – Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare – Sez. di Bari
Via Orabona 4, 70125, Bari, Italy

Euler found the sum of the series:

∞
X 1
(1)
n=1
n2
in a nice way. Starting from the function
sin(x)
f (x) = (2)
x
one can compare its Taylor expansion
∞
sin(x) X (−)2k+1 x2k
= (3)
x n=0
(2k + 1)!
with its representation through Weierstrass’ factorization theorem
∞
!
sin(x) Y x2
= 1− 2 2 (4)
x k=1
k π
The last equation can be intuitively explained looking at the zeros of f (x)
sin(x)
= 0 −→ x = kπ, k ∈ Z∗ (5)
x
where Z∗ = Z − {0}. So, one can express f (x) as the products of factors
sin(x) x
Y  
= 1− (6)
x k∈Z∗
kπ
which explicitly gives
sin(x) x x x x x x
      
= 1− 1+ 1− 1+ 1− 1+ ...
x π π 2π 2π 3π 3π
! ! !
x2 x2 x2
= 1− 2 1− 2 1 − 2 ...
π 4π 9π
∞
!
Y x2
= 1− 2 2 (7)
k=1
k π
∗
nicotri@infn.it

1
Expanding the product in (4)
∞
!
sin(x) x2 1 1 1
Y  
= 1− 2 2 =1− + + + . . . x2 + O(x4 )
x k=1
k π π 2 4π 2 9π 2
∞
" #
1 X 1
= 1− 2 x2 + O(x4 ) (8)
π n=1 n2

Expanding the sum in (3)

∞
sin(x) X (−)2k+1 x2k x2
= =1− + O(x4 ) (9)
x n=0
(2k + 1)! 3!

Comparing the O(x2 ) coefficient of (8) and (9)

∞
1 1 X 1
= 2 (10)
3! π n=1 n2

one can find the sum of the series

∞
X 1 π2
= (11)
n=1
n2 6