Why is the following code wrong? binomial coefficient - c#

I am doing project euler and i am at problem 15 now, here is a link:
https://projecteuler.net/problem=15 . I am trying to solve this with binomial coefficient. Here is a site that explains it: http://www.mathblog.dk/project-euler-15/ . You can find it at the bottom.
My question is, why is the following code wrong? Since this follows the mathematical algorithm I think: n-k+i/i
int grid = 20;
long paths = 1;
for (int i = 0; i < grid; i++)
{
paths *= (grid * 2) - (grid + i)
paths /= (i + 1);
}
Console.WriteLine(paths);
Console.ReadKey();
And why is this code wrong? This is exactly as the mathblog site but in 1 line.
int grid = 20;
long paths = 1;
for (int i = 0; i < grid; i++)
{
paths *= ((grid * 2) - i) / (i + 1);
}
Console.WriteLine(paths);
Console.ReadKey();
But why is this code right then? Isnt it the same as the previous code? And it doesn't exactly follow the mathematical algorithm does it? Because it's n-k+i/i, and this code does n-i/i
int grid = 20;
long paths = 1;
for (int i = 0; i < grid; i++)
{
paths *= ((grid * 2) - i);
paths /= (i + 1);
}
Console.WriteLine(paths);
Console.ReadKey();
Thnx guys!

If you want to combain the calculation it should be like this
paths = (path *((grid * 2) - i))/(i + 1);

By convention, in many programming languages, int/int gives an int,* not a floating point number. Your method implies that 'paths' should take values that are not int. In fact none of the three methods should work but by a happy coincidence, the last one worked: basically because all intermediate values of 'paths' happen to be binomial coefficients too.
Advice for debugging: ask your program to output the intermediate values. This helps a lot.
*: As a mathematician, I almost never need that feature. In fact the other convention (int/int -> double) would have made my life as a programmer easier on average.
I had a look at the blog you mention. This makes your message much more understandable.
The blog mentions a formula : the product for i from 1 to k of (n-k+1)/i.
So to mimick it you would need to write
for (int i = 1; i <= grid; i++) // bounds!
{
paths *= (grid * 2) - (grid - i) // minus sign!
paths /= (i + 1);
}
About the fact that this works with ints: this is an accident due to the fact that in the intermediate values of the product (at the end of each loop) are binomial coefficients all along the computation. If you would compute the products and divisions in another order, you may very well get non-integers so the computation would fail with an integer variable type for path because of the convention int/int -> int. The blog is not very helpful in not mentionning that.

Related

Algorithm to round two numbers to the nearest evenly divisible ones

The title is not really well phrased, I'm aware - can't think of a better way of writing it though.
Here's the scenario - I have two input boxes, both representing integer quantities. One is represented in our units, the other in the vendor's units. There is a multiplier defining how to convert from ours to theirs. In the below example, I'm saying that two of our units is equal to five of theirs. So, for example,
decimal multiplier = 0.4; // Two of our units equals five of theirs
int requestedQuantity = 11; // Our units
int suppliedQuantity = 37; // Their units
// Should return 12, since that is the next highest whole number that results in both of us having whole numbers (12 of ours = 30 of theirs)
int correctedFromRequestedQuantity = GetCorrectedRequestedQuantity(requestedQuantity, null, multiplier);
// Should return 16, since that is the next highest whole number that results in both of us having whole numbers (16 of ours = 40 of theirs);
int correctedFromSuppliedQuantity = GetCorrectedRequestedQuantity(suppliedQuantity, multiplier, null);
Here's the function I've written to handle this. I'm not doing a divide by zero check on the multiplier / rounder since I've already checked for that elsewhere. It seems crazy to do all that converting, but is there a better way of doing it?
public int GetCorrectedRequestedQuantity(int? input, decimal? multiplier, decimal? rounder)
{
if (multiplier == null)
{
if (rounder == null)
return input.GetValueOrDefault();
else
return (int)Math.Ceiling((decimal)((decimal)Math.Ceiling(input.GetValueOrDefault() / rounder.Value) * rounder.Value));
}
else if (input.HasValue)
{
// This is insane...
return (int)Math.Ceiling((decimal)((decimal)Math.Ceiling((int)Math.Ceiling((decimal)input * multiplier.Value) / multiplier.Value) * multiplier.Value));
}
else
return 0;
}
Represent the multiplier as a fraction in lowest terms. I don't know if .NET has a fractions class but if not you can probably find a C# implementation, or just write your own. So assume the multiplier is given by two integers a / b in lowest terms, with a ≠ 0 and b ≠ 0. That also means that conversion in the other direction is given by multiplying by b / a. In your example, a = 2 and b = 5, and a / b = 0.4.
Now suppose you want to convert an integer X. If you think about it a bit you'll see what you really want is to nudge X up until b divides X. The number you need to add to X is simply (b - (X%b)) % b. So to convert on one direction is just
return (a * (X + (b - (X % b) % b))) / b;
and to convert Y going in the other direction is just
return (b * (Y + (a - (X % a) % a))) / a;
My best idea of my head is to semi brute-force it. It does sound like it is basically Fraction Mathematics. So there might be a way easier solution for this.
First we need to find in what sort of "Batch" the multiplier becomes whole. That way, we can stop working with floats/doubles altogether. Ideally this should be supplied with the multiplier (as float math is messy).
double currentMultiple=multiplier;
int currentCount=0;
//This is the best check for "is an integer" could think off.
while(currentMultiple % 1 = 0){
//The Framework can detect Arithmetic Overflow. Let us turn that one on
//If we ever get there, likely the math is non-solveable
checked{
currentMultiple+= multiplier;
currentCount += 1;
}
}
//You get here either via exception or because you got a multiple that solves it.
//Store the value of currentCount into a variable "OurBatchSize"
//Also store the value of currentMultiple in "TheirBatchSize"
Getting the closest Multiple of OurBatchSize:
int requestedQuantity = 11; // Our units
int result = OurBatchSize;
int batchCount = 0;
while(temp < requestedQuantity){
result += OurBatchSize;
batchCount++
}
//result contains the answer here. Return it
//batchCount * TheirBatchSize will also tell you how much they get.
Edit: Credit for this goes mostly to James Reinstate Monica Polk. He had the math idea to use Modulo for this. Here is what I got with explanation:
int result;
int rest = requestedAmout % BatchSize;
if (rest != 0){
//Correct upwards to the next multiple
int DistanceToNextMultiple = BatchSize - Rest;
result = requestedAmout + DistanceToMultiple;
}
else{
//It already is right
result = requestedAmout;
}
For the BatchSize of 4, you will get:
13; 13%4=1; 4-1=3; 13+3=16;
14; 14%4=2; 4-2=2; 14+2=16;
15; 15%4=3; 4-3=1; 15+1=16;
16; 16%4=0; Else is used. 16 is already right.

Eigenvector and Eigenvalue of 8 X 8 matrix

I have a 8 x 8 matrix of floating point numbers and need to calculate eigenvector and eigenvalue from it. This is for feature reduction using PCA (Principal Component Analysis) and is one hell of a time consuming job if done by traditional methods. I tried to use power method as, Y = C*X where X is my 8 X 8 matrix.
float[,] XMatrix = new float[8, 1];
float[,] YMatrix = new float[8, 1];
float max = 0;
XMatrix[0, 0] = 1;
for (int i = 0; i < 8; i++)
{
for (int j = 0; j < 1; j++)
{
for (int k = 0; k < 8; k++)
{
YMatrix[i, j] += C[i, k] * XMatrix[k, j];
if (YMatrix[i, j] > max)
max = YMatrix[i, j];
}
}
}
I know it is incorrect but cannot figure it out. I need help for using a power method or perhaps more effective way of calculating it.
Thanks in advance.
To retrieve the eigenvalues/eigenvectors in an efficent manner (i.e. fast!) for any size (dense) matrix, is not entirely trivial. I would suggest you use something like the QR algorithm (although this maybe overkill for a one-off calculation of a single 8x8 matrix).
The QR algorithm computes a Schur decomposition of a matrix. It is certainly one of the
most important algorithm in eigenvalue computations. However, it is applied to dense matrices only (as stated above).
The QR algorithm consists of two separate stages. First, by means of a similarity
transformation, the original matrix is transformed in a finite number of steps to Hessenberg
form or – in the Hermitian/symmetric case – to real tridiagonal form. This first stage of
the algorithm prepares its second stage, the actual QR iterations that are applied to the
Hessenberg or tridiagonal matrix.
The overall complexity (number of floating points) of the algorithm is O(n3). For a good explanation of this algorithm see here. Or searches for eigenvalue algorithm in Google should provide you with many alternative ways of calculating your required eigenvalues/vectors.
Also, I have not looked into this in detail, but Math.NET a free library may help you here...

What is the most efficient way to avoid duplicate operations in a C# array?

I need to calculate distances between every pair of points in an array and only want to do that once per pair. Is what I've come up with efficient enough or is there a better way? Here's an example, along with a visual to explain what I'm trying to obtain:
e.g., first get segments A-B, A-C, A-D; then B-C, B-D; and finally, C-D. In other words, we want A-B in our new array, but not B-A since it would be a duplication.
var pointsArray = new Point[4];
pointsArray[0] = new Point(0, 0);
pointsArray[1] = new Point(10, 0);
pointsArray[2] = new Point(10, 10);
pointsArray[3] = new Point(0, 10);
// using (n * (n-1)) / 2 to determine array size
int distArraySize = (pointsArray.Length*(pointsArray.Length - 1))/2;
var distanceArray = new double[distArraySize];
int distanceArrayIndex = 0;
// Loop through points and get distances, never using same point pair twice
for (int currentPointIndex = 0; currentPointIndex < pointsArray.Length - 1; currentPointIndex++)
{
for (int otherPointIndex = currentPointIndex + 1;
otherPointIndex < pointsArray.Length;
otherPointIndex++)
{
double xDistance = pointsArray[otherPointIndex].X - pointsArray[currentPointIndex].X;
double yDistance = pointsArray[otherPointIndex].Y - pointsArray[currentPointIndex].Y;
double distance = Math.Sqrt(Math.Pow(xDistance, 2) + Math.Pow(yDistance, 2));
// Add distance to distanceArray
distanceArray[distanceArrayIndex] = distance;
distanceArrayIndex++;
}
}
Since this will be used with many thousands of points, I'm thinking a precisely dimensioned array would be more efficient than using any sort of IEnumerable.
If you have n points, the set of all pairs of points contains n * (n-1) / 2 elements. That's the number of operations you are doing. The only change I would do is using Parallel.ForEach() to do the operations in parallel.
Something like this (needs debugging)
int distArraySize = (pointsArray.Length * (pointsArray.Length - 1)) / 2;
var distanceArray = new double[distArraySize];
int numPoints = pointsArray.Length;
Parallel.ForEach<int>(Enumerable.Range(0, numPoints - 2),
currentPointIndex =>
{
Parallel.ForEach<int>(Enumerable.Range(currentPointIndex + 1, numPoints - 2),
otherPointIndex =>
{
double xDistance = pointsArray[otherPointIndex].X - pointsArray[currentPointIndex].X;
double yDistance = pointsArray[otherPointIndex].Y - pointsArray[currentPointIndex].Y;
double distance = Math.Sqrt(xDistance * xDistance + yDistance * yDistance);
int distanceArrayIndex = currentPointIndex * numPoints - (currentPointIndex * (currentPointIndex + 1) / 2) + otherPointIndex - 1;
distanceArray[distanceArrayIndex] = distance;
});
});
Looks good to me, but don't you have a bug?
Each of the inner iterations will overwrite the previous one almost completely, except for its first position. Won't it?
That is, in distanceArray[otherPointIndex] otherPointIndex gets values from currentPointIndex + 1 to pointsArray.Length - 1.
In your example, this will range on [0-3] instead of [0-6].
I've had to perform operations like this in the past, and I think your immediate reaction to high number crunch operations is "there must be a faster or more efficient way to do this".
The only other even remotely workable solution I can think of would be to hash the pair and place this hash in a HashSet, then check the HashSet before doing the distance calculation. However, this will likely ultimately work out worse for performance.
You're solution is good. As j0aqu1n points out, you're probably going to have to crunch the numbers one way or another, and in this case you aren't ever performing the same calculation twice.
It will be interesting to see if there are any other solutions to this.
I think, it's a bit faster to use xDistance*xDistance instead of Math.Pow(xDistance, 2).
Apart from this, if you really always need to calculate all distances, there is not much room for improvement.
If, OTOH, you sometimes don't need to calculate all, you could calculate the distances lazily when needed.

Hanning and Hamming window functions in C#

I'm trying to implement Hanning and Hamming window functions in C#. I can't find any .Net samples anywhere and I'm not sure if my attempts at converting from C++ samples does the job well.
My problem is mainly that looking at the formulas I imagine they need to have the original number somewhere on the right hand side of the equation - I just don't get it from looking at the formulas. (My math isn't that good yet obviously.)
What I have so far:
public Complex[] Hamming(Complex[] iwv)
{
Complex[] owv = new Complex[iwv.Length];
double omega = 2.0 * Math.PI / (iwv.Length);
// owv[i].Re = real number (raw wave data)
// owv[i].Im = imaginary number (0 since it hasn't gone through FFT yet)
for (int i = 1; i < owv.Length; i++)
// Translated from c++ sample I found somewhere
owv[i].Re = (0.54 - 0.46 * Math.Cos(omega * (i))) * iwv[i].Re;
return owv;
}
public Complex[] Hanning(Complex[] iwv)
{
Complex[] owv = new Complex[iwv.Length];
double omega = 2.0 * Math.PI / (iwv.Length);
for (int i = 1; i < owv.Length; i++)
owv[i].Re = (0.5 + (1 - Math.Cos((2d * Math.PI ) / (i -1)))); // Uhm... wrong
return owv;
}
Here's an example of a Hamming window in use in an open source C# application I wrote a while back. It's being used in a pitch detector for an autotune effect.
You can use the Math.NET library.
double[] hannDoubles = MathNet.Numerics.Window.Hamming(dataIn.Length);
for (int i = 0; i < dataIn.Length; i++)
{
dataOut[i] = hannDoubles[i] * dataIn[i];
}
See my answer to a similar question:
https://stackoverflow.com/a/42939606/246758
The operation of "windowing" means multiplying a signal by a window function. This code you found appears to generate the window function and scale the original signal. The equations are for just the window function itself, not the scaling.

How do I calculate PI in C#?

How can I calculate the value of PI using C#?
I was thinking it would be through a recursive function, if so, what would it look like and are there any math equations to back it up?
I'm not too fussy about performance, mainly how to go about it from a learning point of view.
If you want recursion:
PI = 2 * (1 + 1/3 * (1 + 2/5 * (1 + 3/7 * (...))))
This would become, after some rewriting:
PI = 2 * F(1);
with F(i):
double F (int i) {
return 1 + i / (2.0 * i + 1) * F(i + 1);
}
Isaac Newton (you may have heard of him before ;) ) came up with this trick.
Note that I left out the end condition, to keep it simple. In real life, you kind of need one.
How about using:
double pi = Math.PI;
If you want better precision than that, you will need to use an algorithmic system and the Decimal type.
If you take a close look into this really good guide:
Patterns for Parallel Programming: Understanding and Applying Parallel Patterns with the .NET Framework 4
You'll find at Page 70 this cute implementation (with minor changes from my side):
static decimal ParallelPartitionerPi(int steps)
{
decimal sum = 0.0;
decimal step = 1.0 / (decimal)steps;
object obj = new object();
Parallel.ForEach(
Partitioner.Create(0, steps),
() => 0.0,
(range, state, partial) =>
{
for (int i = range.Item1; i < range.Item2; i++)
{
decimal x = (i - 0.5) * step;
partial += 4.0 / (1.0 + x * x);
}
return partial;
},
partial => { lock (obj) sum += partial; });
return step * sum;
}
There are a couple of really, really old tricks I'm surprised to not see here.
atan(1) == PI/4, so an old chestnut when a trustworthy arc-tangent function is
present is 4*atan(1).
A very cute, fixed-ratio estimate that makes the old Western 22/7 look like dirt
is 355/113, which is good to several decimal places (at least three or four, I think).
In some cases, this is even good enough for integer arithmetic: multiply by 355 then divide by 113.
355/113 is also easy to commit to memory (for some people anyway): count one, one, three, three, five, five and remember that you're naming the digits in the denominator and numerator (if you forget which triplet goes on top, a microsecond's thought is usually going to straighten it out).
Note that 22/7 gives you: 3.14285714, which is wrong at the thousandths.
355/113 gives you 3.14159292 which isn't wrong until the ten-millionths.
Acc. to /usr/include/math.h on my box, M_PI is #define'd as:
3.14159265358979323846
which is probably good out as far as it goes.
The lesson you get from estimating PI is that there are lots of ways of doing it,
none will ever be perfect, and you have to sort them out by intended use.
355/113 is an old Chinese estimate, and I believe it pre-dates 22/7 by many years. It was taught me by a physics professor when I was an undergrad.
Good overview of different algorithms:
Computing pi;
Gauss-Legendre-Salamin.
I'm not sure about the complexity claimed for the Gauss-Legendre-Salamin algorithm in the first link (I'd say O(N log^2(N) log(log(N)))).
I do encourage you to try it, though, the convergence is really fast.
Also, I'm not really sure about why trying to convert a quite simple procedural algorithm into a recursive one?
Note that if you are interested in performance, then working at a bounded precision (typically, requiring a 'double', 'float',... output) does not really make sense, as the obvious answer in such a case is just to hardcode the value.
What is PI? The circumference of a circle divided by its diameter.
In computer graphics you can plot/draw a circle with its centre at 0,0 from a initial point x,y, the next point x',y' can be found using a simple formula:
x' = x + y / h : y' = y - x' / h
h is usually a power of 2 so that the divide can be done easily with a shift (or subtracting from the exponent on a double). h also wants to be the radius r of your circle. An easy start point would be x = r, y = 0, and then to count c the number of steps until x <= 0 to plot a quater of a circle. PI is 4 * c / r or PI is 4 * c / h
Recursion to any great depth, is usually impractical for a commercial program, but tail recursion allows an algorithm to be expressed recursively, while implemented as a loop. Recursive search algorithms can sometimes be implemented using a queue rather than the process's stack, the search has to backtrack from a deadend and take another path - these backtrack points can be put in a queue, and multiple processes can un-queue the points and try other paths.
Calculate like this:
x = 1 - 1/3 + 1/5 - 1/7 + 1/9 (... etc as far as possible.)
PI = x * 4
You have got Pi !!!
This is the simplest method I know of.
The value of PI slowly converges to the actual value of Pi (3.141592165......). If you iterate more times, the better.
Here's a nice approach (from the main Wikipedia entry on pi); it converges much faster than the simple formula discussed above, and is quite amenable to a recursive solution if your intent is to pursue recursion as a learning exercise. (Assuming that you're after the learning experience, I'm not giving any actual code.)
The underlying formula is the same as above, but this approach averages the partial sums to accelerate the convergence.
Define a two parameter function, pie(h, w), such that:
pie(0,1) = 4/1
pie(0,2) = 4/1 - 4/3
pie(0,3) = 4/1 - 4/3 + 4/5
pie(0,4) = 4/1 - 4/3 + 4/5 - 4/7
... and so on
So your first opportunity to explore recursion is to code that "horizontal" computation as the "width" parameter increases (for "height" of zero).
Then add the second dimension with this formula:
pie(h, w) = (pie(h-1,w) + pie(h-1,w+1)) / 2
which is used, of course, only for values of h greater than zero.
The nice thing about this algorithm is that you can easily mock it up with a spreadsheet to check your code as you explore the results produced by progressively larger parameters. By the time you compute pie(10,10), you'll have an approximate value for pi that's good enough for most engineering purposes.
Enumerable.Range(0, 100000000).Aggregate(0d, (tot, next) => tot += Math.Pow(-1d, next)/(2*next + 1)*4)
using System;
namespace Strings
{
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
/* decimal pie = 1;
decimal e = -1;
*/
var stopwatch = new System.Diagnostics.Stopwatch();
stopwatch.Start(); //added this nice stopwatch start routine
//leibniz formula in C# - code written completely by Todd Mandell 2014
/*
for (decimal f = (e += 2); f < 1000001; f++)
{
e += 2;
pie -= 1 / e;
e += 2;
pie += 1 / e;
Console.WriteLine(pie * 4);
}
decimal finalDisplayString = (pie * 4);
Console.WriteLine("pie = {0}", finalDisplayString);
Console.WriteLine("Accuracy resulting from approximately {0} steps", e/4);
*/
// Nilakantha formula - code written completely by Todd Mandell 2014
// π = 3 + 4/(2*3*4) - 4/(4*5*6) + 4/(6*7*8) - 4/(8*9*10) + 4/(10*11*12) - (4/(12*13*14) etc
decimal pie = 0;
decimal a = 2;
decimal b = 3;
decimal c = 4;
decimal e = 1;
for (decimal f = (e += 1); f < 100000; f++)
// Increase f where "f < 100000" to increase number of steps
{
pie += 4 / (a * b * c);
a += 2;
b += 2;
c += 2;
pie -= 4 / (a * b * c);
a += 2;
b += 2;
c += 2;
e += 1;
}
decimal finalDisplayString = (pie + 3);
Console.WriteLine("pie = {0}", finalDisplayString);
Console.WriteLine("Accuracy resulting from {0} steps", e);
stopwatch.Stop();
TimeSpan ts = stopwatch.Elapsed;
Console.WriteLine("Calc Time {0}", ts);
Console.ReadLine();
}
}
}
public static string PiNumberFinder(int digitNumber)
{
string piNumber = "3,";
int dividedBy = 11080585;
int divisor = 78256779;
int result;
for (int i = 0; i < digitNumber; i++)
{
if (dividedBy < divisor)
dividedBy *= 10;
result = dividedBy / divisor;
string resultString = result.ToString();
piNumber += resultString;
dividedBy = dividedBy - divisor * result;
}
return piNumber;
}
In any production scenario, I would compel you to look up the value, to the desired number of decimal points, and store it as a 'const' somewhere your classes can get to it.
(unless you're writing scientific 'Pi' specific software...)
Regarding...
... how to go about it from a learning point of view.
Are you trying to learning to program scientific methods? or to produce production software? I hope the community sees this as a valid question and not a nitpick.
In either case, I think writing your own Pi is a solved problem. Dmitry showed the 'Math.PI' constant already. Attack another problem in the same space! Go for generic Newton approximations or something slick.
#Thomas Kammeyer:
Note that Atan(1.0) is quite often hardcoded, so 4*Atan(1.0) is not really an 'algorithm' if you're calling a library Atan function (an quite a few already suggested indeed proceed by replacing Atan(x) by a series (or infinite product) for it, then evaluating it at x=1.
Also, there are very few cases where you'd need pi at more precision than a few tens of bits (which can be easily hardcoded!). I've worked on applications in mathematics where, to compute some (quite complicated) mathematical objects (which were polynomial with integer coefficients), I had to do arithmetic on real and complex numbers (including computing pi) with a precision of up to a few million bits... but this is not very frequent 'in real life' :)
You can look up the following example code.
I like this paper, which explains how to calculate π based on a Taylor series expansion for Arctangent.
The paper starts with the simple assumption that
Atan(1) = π/4 radians
Atan(x) can be iteratively estimated with the Taylor series
atan(x) = x - x^3/3 + x^5/5 - x^7/7 + x^9/9...
The paper points out why this is not particularly efficient and goes on to make a number of logical refinements in the technique. They also provide a sample program that computes π to a few thousand digits, complete with source code, including the infinite-precision math routines required.
The following link shows how to calculate the pi constant based on its definition as an integral, that can be written as a limit of a summation, it's very interesting:
https://sites.google.com/site/rcorcs/posts/calculatingthepiconstant
The file "Pi as an integral" explains this method used in this post.
First, note that C# can use the Math.PI field of the .NET framework:
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.math.pi(v=vs.110).aspx
The nice feature here is that it's a full-precision double that you can either use, or compare with computed results. The tabs at that URL have similar constants for C++, F# and Visual Basic.
To calculate more places, you can write your own extended-precision code. One that is quick to code and reasonably fast and easy to program is:
Pi = 4 * [4 * arctan (1/5) - arctan (1/239)]
This formula and many others, including some that converge at amazingly fast rates, such as 50 digits per term, are at Wolfram:
Wolfram Pi Formulas
PI (π) can be calculated by using infinite series. Here are two examples:
Gregory-Leibniz Series:
π/4 = 1 - 1/3 + 1/5 - 1/7 + 1/9 - ...
C# method :
public static decimal GregoryLeibnizGetPI(int n)
{
decimal sum = 0;
decimal temp = 0;
for (int i = 0; i < n; i++)
{
temp = 4m / (1 + 2 * i);
sum += i % 2 == 0 ? temp : -temp;
}
return sum;
}
Nilakantha Series:
π = 3 + 4 / (2x3x4) - 4 / (4x5x6) + 4 / (6x7x8) - 4 / (8x9x10) + ...
C# method:
public static decimal NilakanthaGetPI(int n)
{
decimal sum = 0;
decimal temp = 0;
decimal a = 2, b = 3, c = 4;
for (int i = 0; i < n; i++)
{
temp = 4 / (a * b * c);
sum += i % 2 == 0 ? temp : -temp;
a += 2; b += 2; c += 2;
}
return 3 + sum;
}
The input parameter n for both functions represents the number of iteration.
The Nilakantha Series in comparison with Gregory-Leibniz Series converges more quickly. The methods can be tested with the following code:
static void Main(string[] args)
{
const decimal pi = 3.1415926535897932384626433832m;
Console.WriteLine($"PI = {pi}");
//Nilakantha Series
int iterationsN = 100;
decimal nilakanthaPI = NilakanthaGetPI(iterationsN);
decimal CalcErrorNilakantha = pi - nilakanthaPI;
Console.WriteLine($"\nNilakantha Series -> PI = {nilakanthaPI}");
Console.WriteLine($"Calculation error = {CalcErrorNilakantha}");
int numDecNilakantha = pi.ToString().Zip(nilakanthaPI.ToString(), (x, y) => x == y).TakeWhile(x => x).Count() - 2;
Console.WriteLine($"Number of correct decimals = {numDecNilakantha}");
Console.WriteLine($"Number of iterations = {iterationsN}");
//Gregory-Leibniz Series
int iterationsGL = 1000000;
decimal GregoryLeibnizPI = GregoryLeibnizGetPI(iterationsGL);
decimal CalcErrorGregoryLeibniz = pi - GregoryLeibnizPI;
Console.WriteLine($"\nGregory-Leibniz Series -> PI = {GregoryLeibnizPI}");
Console.WriteLine($"Calculation error = {CalcErrorGregoryLeibniz}");
int numDecGregoryLeibniz = pi.ToString().Zip(GregoryLeibnizPI.ToString(), (x, y) => x == y).TakeWhile(x => x).Count() - 2;
Console.WriteLine($"Number of correct decimals = {numDecGregoryLeibniz}");
Console.WriteLine($"Number of iterations = {iterationsGL}");
Console.ReadKey();
}
The following output shows that Nilakantha Series returns six correct decimals of PI with one hundred iterations whereas Gregory-Leibniz Series returns five correct decimals of PI with one million iterations:
My code can be tested >> here
Here is a nice way:
Calculate a series of 1/x^2 for x from 1 to what ever you want- the bigger number- the better pie result. Multiply the result by 6 and to sqrt().
Here is the code in c# (main only):
static void Main(string[] args)
{
double counter = 0;
for (double i = 1; i < 1000000; i++)
{
counter = counter + (1 / (Math.Pow(i, 2)));
}
counter = counter * 6;
counter = Math.Sqrt(counter);
Console.WriteLine(counter);
}
public double PI = 22.0 / 7.0;

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