A duad of protease inhibitor enthusiasts have calculated the big chunk of the numerical constant yet , reaching just over10 trillion digit . Alexander Yee and Shigeru Kondo , respectively a computer scientist in the US and a systems technologist in Japan , campaign hard - thrust failures and narrowly missed far-flung technical disruptions due to theJapan earthquaketo break their previousGuinness Earth recordof5 trillion digit .
As the form of address of the announcement on their internet site – “ Same programme , same computer , just a longer hold back … ” – suggest , it was only a matter of time before the disc was smashed . Indeed , calculating so many fingerbreadth of pi attend to no useful numerical purpose – pi goes on constantly , but just 39 digits are enough to calculate the perimeter of a Mexican valium the size of it of the evident universe with an error no large than the radius of a H atom .
Yet , as demonstrated by Yee and Kondo ’s recent epic pursuance – which was particularly pregnant this meter around – the exploit still sparks intense passion , a testament to the enduring enchantment with thiscurious ratio .
Yee wrote the pi - aim software while Kondo performed the number - crunch on his custom - built PC , sum another ten knockout drive since the former attempt to cypher pi .
Calculations get down on 16 October last year and were over a third complete when a severe drive failure on 9 December mean the span had to start from wampum – the failure occurred just before a scheduled backup . Then the earthquake struck on 11 March , shortly after the distich had reached 47 per centime completion .
Thankfully , Kondo was fine and the earthquake failed to interrupt the dyad ’s calculations , as his PC was link up to Japan ’s unaffected westerly electricity grid .
Further heavy - drive failures , and subsequent replacements , however , slowed things further until finally , on 26 August , the feat was complete . The calculations required were so intense that Kondo ’s computer heated the air in its elbow room to virtually 40 ° C . “ We could dry the washables immediately , but we had to devote 30,000 hankering [ $ 400 ] a month for electricity , ” his wife Yukkiotold The Japan Times .
The pair then had to affirm that all 10 trillion digits were correct . After all , no one had ever figure them before . gratefully there is aformula for bet any particular digit of pi , which they could use to check the result . A researcher at Yahoo used the same pattern last year to find the2 - one-quadrillionth binary finger of pi .
One final dance step continue : convert the digits from base 16 , the number system used to carry out the reckoning , to found 10 , the intimate system we utilise ever day . The pair at last finished this step last Sunday . Phew .
Oh , and in pillowcase you are wondering , the 10 one-trillionth digit is 5 .
Top image : Pi - cranch automobile / Alexander J. Yee & Shigeru Kondo . This post originally appeared onNew Scientist .
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