Interview with a Japanese researcher who calculated Pi with an accuracy of 2.5 trillion characters
By the day of Pi, I decided to translate this interview. Also, happy birthday Einstein!
On August 17, 2009, Daisuke Takahashi, an associate professor at Tsukuba University in Japan, announced that his research team had calculated Pi with a staggering accuracy of 2.5 trillion characters . The group used the supercomputer that occupied the 47th place in the world rankings at that time. This accuracy exceeds more than 2 times the previous record, registered in the Guinness Book of Records in 2002 and amounted to 1.2 trillion characters, which was established by another Japanese group of researchers.
Then, on December 31, 2009, French programmer Fabrice Bellard stated that he had surpassed Takahashi's record by 120 billion characters using a significantly weaker computer. Although the amazing success of Mr. Bellard seemed to have the goal of setting a record using limited resources and a more efficient algorithm , Professor Takahashi wrote to me in an e-mail interview right after he announced his record in August that the purpose of his work was to study the Pi number itself (and not just calculating it with great accuracy).
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Here is a translation of my correspondence with Professor Takahashi about his work related to Pi:
Question: Why are you researching Pi? What is your interest in it?
Prof. Takahashi: Circles and spheres are the most beautiful figures in the world. If you want to know why I think so, it is because they do not change no matter where you look at them. However, I also think that the infinitely continuing number 3.14 ..., derived from the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, is highly mysterious. That is the reason for my interest in him.
Since the time of Archimedes, who calculated the value of Pi (3.14) in the 3rd century BC, efforts to calculate more precisely the values did not cease. The number of figures was considered one of the indicators of the development of civilization. Also, Pi calculation can be used to estimate the speed and reliability of computers. I research it for these reasons.
Question: Why did you decide to calculate Pi with an accuracy of 2.5 trillion characters?
Prof. Takahashi: So far, the most accurate was the pi value of 1.2411 trillion characters, calculated by a group from Tokyo University of Information Technology and Hitach. This time our goal was to double this number.
Question: Do you think you have succeeded?
Prof. Takahasi: I think so. Also, during the execution of calculations in the system there were no problems. I think we were able to prove the reliability of the T2K Tsukuba supercomputer.
Question: Do you want to continue research? If so, how many characters do you want to calculate?
Prof. Takahashi: This time I had the happy opportunity to use a new supercomputer, but if I have another such chance, I would like to continue the research. If possible, I would like to calculate as many characters as the computer can best.
Question: I heard that you found interesting sequences in Pi and 1 / Pi. Which one is the most interesting? Why (precisely she)?
Prof. Takahashi: I do not have any particular reason, but I find the sequences of the same number, for example, 8888888888888 in Pi, and 3333333333333 and also 4444444444444 in 1 / Pi most interesting.
Question: Do you think there is any pattern in Pi or 1 / Pi?
Prof. Takahashi: I used to think that if there is a message from God in Pi or 1 / Pi, then there is a pattern in it. But now I think that the very chance of Pi may be such a message.
Question: What will you explore next? Do you want to set another math record?
Prof. Takahashi: During the calculation of Pi, more than 70% of the time was spent by a supercomputer on fast Fourier transforms. So far I have researched efficient fast Fourier transform algorithms . In the future I want to continue these studies.
(Last) Question: What is your favorite cake? (pie, consonant to Pi)
Prof. Takahasi: I rarely eat pies, but if I had to answer, I would call apple.
On August 17, 2009, Daisuke Takahashi, an associate professor at Tsukuba University in Japan, announced that his research team had calculated Pi with a staggering accuracy of 2.5 trillion characters . The group used the supercomputer that occupied the 47th place in the world rankings at that time. This accuracy exceeds more than 2 times the previous record, registered in the Guinness Book of Records in 2002 and amounted to 1.2 trillion characters, which was established by another Japanese group of researchers.
Then, on December 31, 2009, French programmer Fabrice Bellard stated that he had surpassed Takahashi's record by 120 billion characters using a significantly weaker computer. Although the amazing success of Mr. Bellard seemed to have the goal of setting a record using limited resources and a more efficient algorithm , Professor Takahashi wrote to me in an e-mail interview right after he announced his record in August that the purpose of his work was to study the Pi number itself (and not just calculating it with great accuracy).
')
Here is a translation of my correspondence with Professor Takahashi about his work related to Pi:
Question: Why are you researching Pi? What is your interest in it?
Prof. Takahashi: Circles and spheres are the most beautiful figures in the world. If you want to know why I think so, it is because they do not change no matter where you look at them. However, I also think that the infinitely continuing number 3.14 ..., derived from the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, is highly mysterious. That is the reason for my interest in him.
Since the time of Archimedes, who calculated the value of Pi (3.14) in the 3rd century BC, efforts to calculate more precisely the values did not cease. The number of figures was considered one of the indicators of the development of civilization. Also, Pi calculation can be used to estimate the speed and reliability of computers. I research it for these reasons.
Question: Why did you decide to calculate Pi with an accuracy of 2.5 trillion characters?
Prof. Takahashi: So far, the most accurate was the pi value of 1.2411 trillion characters, calculated by a group from Tokyo University of Information Technology and Hitach. This time our goal was to double this number.
Question: Do you think you have succeeded?
Prof. Takahasi: I think so. Also, during the execution of calculations in the system there were no problems. I think we were able to prove the reliability of the T2K Tsukuba supercomputer.
Question: Do you want to continue research? If so, how many characters do you want to calculate?
Prof. Takahashi: This time I had the happy opportunity to use a new supercomputer, but if I have another such chance, I would like to continue the research. If possible, I would like to calculate as many characters as the computer can best.
Question: I heard that you found interesting sequences in Pi and 1 / Pi. Which one is the most interesting? Why (precisely she)?
Prof. Takahashi: I do not have any particular reason, but I find the sequences of the same number, for example, 8888888888888 in Pi, and 3333333333333 and also 4444444444444 in 1 / Pi most interesting.
Question: Do you think there is any pattern in Pi or 1 / Pi?
Prof. Takahashi: I used to think that if there is a message from God in Pi or 1 / Pi, then there is a pattern in it. But now I think that the very chance of Pi may be such a message.
Question: What will you explore next? Do you want to set another math record?
Prof. Takahashi: During the calculation of Pi, more than 70% of the time was spent by a supercomputer on fast Fourier transforms. So far I have researched efficient fast Fourier transform algorithms . In the future I want to continue these studies.
(Last) Question: What is your favorite cake? (pie, consonant to Pi)
Prof. Takahasi: I rarely eat pies, but if I had to answer, I would call apple.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/87488/
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