Listen "OEIS A000333: Partitions into non-integral powers"
Episode Synopsis
What happens when you count sums of square roots rather than sums of integers? OEIS A000333 counts the number of ordered multisets L = (l1 ≤ l2 ≤ … ≤ lk) of positive integers with sqrt(l1) + sqrt(l2) + … + sqrt(lk) ≤ n. For example, A(3) = 15. The problem arose in a 1951 statistical mechanics paper by Agarwala and Alok, where distributing energy quanta over non-integer energy levels led to these non-integral partitions; Neil Sloan later cataloged the sequence, highlighting its rapid growth (1, 5, 15, 40, 98, …) and the lack of a simple generating function, alongside intriguing asymptotic structure bridging number theory and physics.Note: This podcast was AI-generated, and sometimes AI can make mistakes. Please double-check any critical information. Sponsored by Embersilk LLC
More episodes of the podcast Intellectually Curious
Artemis II: Humans Return to the Moon
18/01/2026
History of Celestial Mechanics
17/01/2026
The Step Pyramid of Djoser
17/01/2026
The Geometry Behind Egypt's Obelisks
16/01/2026
ZARZA We are Zarza, the prestigious firm behind major projects in information technology.