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We consider, for various values of $s$, the $n$-dimensional integral | We consider, for various values of $s$, the $n$-dimensional integral |
Revision as of 14:24, 3 April 2016
\(E=mc^2\)
We consider, for various values of $s$, the $n$-dimensional integral
\begin{align}
\label{def:Wns}
W_n (s)
&:=
\int_{[0, 1]^n}
\left| \sum_{k = 1}^n \mathrm{e}^{2 \pi \mathrm{i} \, x_k} \right|^s \mathrm{d}\boldsymbol{x}
\end{align}
which occurs in the theory of uniform random walk integrals in the plane,
where at each step a unit-step is taken in a random direction. As such,
the integral \eqref{def:Wns} expresses the $s$-th moment of the distance
to the origin after $n$ steps.
By experimentation and some sketchy arguments we quickly conjectured and strongly believed that, for $k$ a nonnegative integer \begin{align} \label{eq:W3k} W_3(k) &= \Re \, \pFq32{\frac12, -\frac k2, -\frac k2}{1, 1}{4}. \end{align} Appropriately defined, \eqref{eq:W3k} also holds for negative odd integers. The reason for \eqref{eq:W3k} was long a mystery, but it will be explained at the end of the paper.