@mc

which one the top or the bottom?

@math @funny

@freemo @math @funny
The top one may be polemical, but the bottom one seems impossible.
(However, I'm not very good with combinatorics and I'll be waiting to be proved wrong. 😅 )

@mc

Well its a bit tongue in cheek for the universe I will give you that. But yea as you might have figured out you make the equation for combinations of things from discrete and abstract it to a generalized continuous function. So while no one is actually taking combinations of half a thing, the math still works out and is actually quite useful.

@math @funny

@freemo @math @funny
God! I'm such an ignorant... Does the bottom one refer to the Basel problem?

@mc

No it refers to the gamma function, the continuous form of the factorial function.

@math @funny

@freemo @math @funny
Okay. Thanks.

@nomian

The surprising part is these arent just tricks of math, they are literally needed to understand things the physical world does. That is, even physics "proves" that the sum of all natural numbers is -1/12... To me that is more amazing than just accepting some mathematical trick on paper

@funny @math