Approximating Pi (and other constants) by Radicals in the Footsteps of Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra and Guru RSJ Reddy

Doron Zeilberger

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arXiv · 2609.25098

Approximating Pi (and other constants) by Radicals in the Footsteps of Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra and Guru RSJ Reddy

Doron Zeilberger

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Abstract

Inspired by the polymath Abraham Ibn Ezra (1089-1167) who approximated π by 20/9 times the square-root of 2, and contemporary scholar, RSJ Reddy, who gave (14-sqrt(2))/4, we point out that both of these approximations are optimal in some sense, and we generate many other ones that are even more optimal, albeit not as nice.

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Doron Zeilberger. 2026-09-19. Approximating Pi (and other constants) by Radicals in the Footsteps of Rabbi Abraham Ibn Ezra and Guru RSJ Reddy. https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.25098

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