![]() ![]() ![]() This is a really important point to make, because these records are set as the result of careful mathematical thinking, as well as the practical concerns of programming a computer to do what we want. "But tuning the system to maximum performance is an important aspect of our future calculations in the area of applied research and development." "Speed is not relevant per se in these record runs, as only the number of digits is important for the world record," Keller says. And for what it's worth, simply having an algorithm to use is one thing, but how you "implement" that algorithm in code can vary a great deal. Because the last several records have all used the same algorithm, any changes in speed represent something in the programming or computing power on display. The Chudnovsky algorithm involves the intersection of complex, advanced mathematics you'll have to dig into on your own (see above).īack to the new record, though. In reality, we must have complicated formulae to get the right individual digits that calculate out to as many decimal places as possible. In theory, if you can draw and measure a perfect circle, you can calculate pi by simply dividing one value by the other. Scientists can also use powerful supercomputers for practical tasks like mapping the human genome, or crunching all of the world's known chemical compounds in order to find candidates for new medicines. That part is key, because calculating pi has become a way for computers to flex their computational abilities, as programmers look toward extremely resource-intensive tasks, like modeling the universe or even making high-performance imagined worlds in video games. "For us, the record is a byproduct of tuning our system for future computation tasks." "The number of pi is (except for a few very well-known digits) irrelevant to us and probably to anyone else in science and mathematics," he tells Popular Mechanics via email. Project leader Thomas Keller is very clear about what this world record represents-and doesn't. They also completed their record run nearly four times faster than the previous one.īut the real question is: why should we care about all of those digits in the first place? These scientists have not just broken the world record for the most calculated digits of pi, but they've smashed it, moving beyond the existing record of 50 trillion digits to reach a whopping 62.8 trillion digits using a supercomputer. Usually, when we talk about pi, we talk about the number 3.14, but because its decimals never end, nor do they settle into a pattern, pi's digits go on, theoretically, forever. Researchers at the Swiss university Fachhochschule Graubünden claim that they've broken the world record for the most calculated digits of pi, a mathematical constant that describes the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter. The new record is enabled by a supercomputer running a specialized algorithm.Ĭalculating pi is a symbolic way to demonstrate real computing power. Researchers have set a new record for calculating digits of pi: 62.8 trillion decimals. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |