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A simple proof e is irrational
W. Ramasinghe
a
312/7, Ganewatta Road, Mampe, Piliyandala, Sri Lanka
Published online: 10 Aug 2006.

2
To cite this article: W. Ramasinghe (2005) A simple proof e is irrational, International
Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 36:4, 407-410, DOI:
10.1080/00207390410001714948

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 International Journal of Mathematical Education in
Science and Technology, Vol. 36, No. 4, 2005, 407–441

Classroom notes

A simple proof e2 is irrational

W. RAMASINGHE*
312/7, Ganewatta Road, Mampe, Piliyandala, Sri Lanka

(Received 4 September 2003)

Downloaded by [Northeastern University] at 09:26 13 November 2014

It is well known that e2 is irrational: this note presents a simple proof of it. The
arguments stay within the realms of a first proof course in mathematical analysis
offered for undergraduates.

1. Introduction

It is very well known that both
2 and e2 are irrational numbers. Irrationality of
2
has an elementary proof that does not assume the fact that
is transcendental [1].
Likewise we present a simple proof of the irrationality of e2 without using the
transcendentalism of e.

2. Preliminaries

Let us begin with some definitions, notation and a review of relevant results.
Definition 2.1.
X1
1
e¼ :
n¼0
n!

Theorem 2.2. e is irrational.

Remark. For a proof of Theorem 2.2, see [2,3].
Definition 2.3. A number  is said to be algebraic P if there exist a positive integer n
and integers a0 , a1 , a2 , . . . , an with an 6¼ 0 and ni¼0 ai i ¼ 0. A number  is said to
be transcendental if  is not algebraic.
Theorem 2.4. e is transcendental.
Remark. For a proof of Theorem 2.4, see [1].
As usual let R denote the set of real numbers.

*Email: wimalnayana@hotmail.com

International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology

ISSN 0020–739X print/ISSN 1464–5211 online # 2005 Taylor & Francis Group Ltd
http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
DOI: 10.1080/00207390410001714948
 408 Classroom notes

Theorem 2.5.
X
1
xn
ex ¼ , x2R
n¼0
n!

Remark. For a proof of Theorem 2.5, see [2].

Remark. The following result is a direct application of Theorem 2.5.
Corollary 2.6.
X
1 n
2
e2 ¼ :
n¼0
n!
Downloaded by [Northeastern University] at 09:26 13 November 2014

3. e2 is irrational

Irrationality of e2 immediately follows from Theorem 2.4 and the fact that the square
root of any rational number is algebraic. Also this follows as a special case from
problem 3.1.48 [4].
We present a simple proof of the irrationality of e2 based on the following
elementary results.
Lemma 3.1. For each n ¼ 1, 2, 3, . . . there is an integer qn such that
n
ð2n þ 1Þð2n þ 2Þð2n þ 3Þ


ð2n þ 2n  1Þð2n þ 2n Þ ¼ 22 qn :

Proof. When n ¼ 1, take q1 ¼ 3. Assume that the result is true for some integer n.
Then

ð2nþ1 þ 1Þð2nþ1 þ 2Þð2nþ1 þ 3Þ


ð2nþ1 þ 2nþ1  1Þð2nþ1 þ 2nþ1 Þ

n
¼ 22 ð2n þ 1Þð2n þ 2Þð2n þ 3Þ


ð2n þ 2n  1Þð2n þ 2n Þð2nþ1 þ 1Þ
 ð2nþ1 þ 3Þ


ð2nþ1 þ 2nþ1  1Þ
nþ1
¼ 22 qn ð2nþ1 þ 1Þð2nþ1 þ 3Þ


ð2nþ1 þ 2nþ1  1Þ:

Proof follows from induction.

Lemma 3.1 leads to the next simple corollary.
Corollary 3.2. For each n ¼ 1, 2, 3, . . . there is an integer pn such that
n
ð2n Þ! ¼ 22 2 pn :
Proof. When n ¼ 1, take p1 ¼ 2. Assume that the result is true for some integer n.
Then


2nþ1 ! ¼ ð2n Þ!ð2n þ 1Þð2n þ 2Þð2n þ 3Þ


ð2n þ 2n  1Þð2n þ 2n Þ
n n nþ1
¼ 22 2
pn 22 qn ¼ 22 2
pn qn :

Proof follows from induction.

The next lemma is a very basic result.
 Classroom notes 409

Lemma 3.3. If 2k jn!, where n, k are positive integers, then k<n.

Proof. Suppose there is an integer n such that 2k jn! with k 5 n. Let m be the least
such integer. Assume m is even. Therefore, m ¼ 2n for some integer n. Thus
(2n)! ¼ 2kr for some integers k, r with k 5 2n.
However, ð2nÞ! ¼ 2nð2n  1Þð2n  2Þ


3
2
1 ¼ 2n n!ð2n  1Þð2n  3Þ


3
1.
kn
Hence, 2 r ¼ n!ð2n  1Þð2n  3Þ


3
1. Since ð2n  1Þð2n  3Þ


3
1 is odd
2kn jn! and k  n 5 n.
This is a contradiction, since n < m ¼ 2n. In case m is odd we obtain a similar
contradiction.
Our next result is a consequence of Corollary 3.2 and Lemma 3.3.
Corollary 3.4.
 k n
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n  ð2 Þ!
2 2
22  k! for n ¼ 1, 2, 3, . . . and for k ¼ 0, 1, 2, . . . , 2n :

Now we present our simple proof that e2 is irrational.

Theorem 3.5. e2 is irrational.
Proof. Suppose e2 ¼ p=q. Choose an integer n such that 2n > 16q þ 1. Then
n n n n
p 22 23 22 22 þ1 22 þ2 22 þ3
¼ 1 þ 2 þ þ þ


þ n þ n þ n þ n þ



q 2! 3! ð2 Þ! ð2 þ 1Þ! ð2 þ 2Þ! ð2 þ 3Þ!

Therefore,
 
n 22 ð2n Þ! 23 ð2n Þ!
n n 2n
ð2 Þ!p ¼ q ð2 Þ! þ 2ð2 Þ! þ þ þ


þ 2
2! 3!
 
n 1 2 22
þ q22 þ1 n þ n þ þ


:
2 þ 1 ð2 þ 1Þð2n þ 2Þ ð2n þ 1Þð2n þ 2Þð2n þ 3Þ
From Corollary 3.4 there is an integer sn such that
n n
22 2
pn p ¼ q22 2 sn
 
2n þ1 1 2 22
þ q2 þ þ þ


:
2n þ 1 ð2n þ 1Þð2n þ 2Þ ð2n þ 1Þð2n þ 2Þð2n þ 3Þ

This leads to
 
1 2 22
pn p ¼ qsn þ 8q þ þ þ


:
2n þ 1 ð2n þ 1Þð2n þ 2Þ ð2n þ 1Þð2n þ 2Þð2n þ 3Þ

Notice that
1 2 22
þ þ þ



2n þ 1 ð2n þ 1Þð2n þ 2Þ ð2n þ 1Þð2n þ 2Þð2n þ 3Þ

1 2 22 1
4 þ þ þ


¼ n :
2n þ 1 ð 2n þ 1Þ 2 ð 2n þ 1Þ 3 2 1
 410 Classroom notes

Hence,
8q 1
0 < pn p  qsn < < :
2n  1 2
The contradiction that pn p  qsn is an integer proves the theorem.
Theorem 3.5 leads to our final result, which is of course very well known.
Corollary 3.6. e is irrational.
Proof. This follows from the fact that the square of any rational number is rational.

References
Downloaded by [Northeastern University] at 09:26 13 November 2014

[1] Stromberg, K.R., 1981, Introduction to Classical Real Analysis (Belmont: Wadsworth Inc.).
[2] Rudin, W., 1953, Principles of Mathematical Analysis, 3rd edn (New York:
McGraw-Hill).
[3] Apostol, T.M., 1974, Mathematical Analysis, 2nd edn (Ontario: Addison-Wesley).
[4] Kaczor, W.J. and Nowak, M.T., 2000, Problems in Mathematical Analysis (Providence,
RI: AMS).

Parametric integrals and Catalan numbers

THIERRY DANA-PICARD
Department of Applied Mathematics, Jerusalem College of Technology,
Havaad Haleumi Str. 21, POB 16031, Jerusalem 91160—Israel and
Talpiot College, Hazerem St., 10, Tel-Aviv—Israel
Email: dana@mail.jct.ac.il

(Received 10 January 2004)

Catalan numbers are defined by combinatorial properties, in numerous situations.

Here, an integral representation for these Catalan numbers is computed.

1. An infinite sequence of parametric integrals

Let a be a positive real number. For every non-negative integer n, we consider the
following definite integral
Z a pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
In ¼ xn a2  x2 dx ð1Þ
0

We will study the sequence ðIn Þ.

The first two integrals of the sequence are easy to compute; we have:
Z a pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi  2 a
a x 1 pffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi 1 a2

I0 ¼ 2
a  x dx ¼ 2 arcsin þ x a  x ¼ a2 arcsin 1 ¼
2 2
0 2 a 2 0 2 4