Exploring the Irrationality of π4 and π6: A Review

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Review of " On the irrationality of π4 and π6 " by Md. Reza Yegan

INTRODUCTION
"On the irrationality of π4 and π6 " by Md. Reza Yegan, taken from the Journal of Number Theory is a paper that, quite simply put, explores the concept of irrationality of 2 specific powers of π, namely π4 and π6. Referencing other papers as examples, Yegan states that, though the irrationality of π and π2 are often discussed, the irrational nature of the higher powers of π are usually neglected. Hence, Yegan chooses to explore the irrational natures of 2 higher powers of π : π4 and π6 .The paper under review thus contains 2 simple proofs to explain the irrationality of π4 and π6 using integral identities (Hermite's technique) on a specific sequence of functions. …show more content…

Though he is successful in explaining, by contradiction, the irrationality of π4 and π6, he fails to find proof for a general case to test irrationality of all powers of pi, despite discussing the need to look into irrationality higher powers of pi due to their neglected existence. His overall explanation is convoluted and lengthy in comparison to other papers that have succeeded in giving shorter proofs, and have even found general cases. Thus, while Yeman's paper succeeds in doing what has set out to do, it fails to expand on the base it creates.

REFERENCES

[1] M.R. Yegan, On the irrationality of π4 and π6, J. Number Theory (2017), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jnt.2017.02.009 [2] Breusch, R., A proof of the irrationality of π, the American Mathematical Monthly , Vol.61,
NO.9 (Nov.1954), pp.631-632.

[3] Huylebrouck, D., Similarities in irrationality proofs for π, ln 2, ζ(2),and ζ(3),
AMM 108(2001) 222-231.

[4] Nesterenko, Yu., V., A simple proof of the irrationality of π, Russ. J. Math. Phys. 13(2006), no.4, 473.

[5] Niven, I., A simple proof that π is irrational, Bulletin of the American Mathematical

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