Speaker 0:  we've known the value of pi for thousands of years, but theoretical physicists have just stumbled upon a new way to calculate it using rules of quantum mechanics. if you thought math was a solved game, you need to hear how particle physics are rewriting the rule book on the world's most famous number. researchers from the indian institute of science have found a new series representation for pi by looking at high energy particle physics using the feynman feynman, diagrams, what? how do you say that?

Speaker 1:  feynman.

Speaker 0:  yeah. feynman. yeah. which, maps how subatomic particles interact. they discovered a hidden pathway to calculating pi that connects quantum field theory directly to pure number theory. it's news not because it's breaking speed records, but because it proves deep, unexpected mathematical links between the physical universe and abstract math. what's going on here, john?

Speaker 1:  yeah. so like you said, pi, it's a transcendental, and it's an irrational constant. it expresses the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter. this means it has infinite non repeating digits. i think i've got i've met 3.14159265854, i think, is as far as i've gotten in my memory. so classical geometry and calculus, they've introduced ways to approximate pi through an infinite series. so that's expressions that add up an endless sequence of terms to approach pi's value. so early examples include, madhava's series from medieval india and later formulations by leibnitz and others. so modern computational methods used refined series to compute pi to trillions of digits, but mathematicians still seek new efficient expansions that converge more quickly with fewer terms. so the article talks about how they developed a new representation of pi while modeling quantum particle interactions. so what they did was they used techniques from quantum mechanics, notably that we talked about, feynman diagrams, for particle scattering and the euler beta function. so that's a tool in string theory. and what they did was they built a series whose terms converge on pi. so these physics inspired mathematical tools allowed them to construct an expression that approaches pi more efficiently than some traditional series by requiring fewer terms for a given precision. so in mathematical terms, this kind of series representation works because it leverages underlying symmetries and integrals common in quantum field calculations. so some infinite series naturally converge on constants like pi. by reformulating quantum amplitude integrals, the physicists turn complex physics calculations into an optimized mathematical expert expression for pi itself. that's a lot of information that's quite complex. but, again, i love that they're like, the pi it's not just a geometry constant. it's woven through physics. it's woven through engineering, a number, and number theory. like, like, it's not just one thing. right? and i love that.

Speaker 0:  yeah. and i like to think of this as, calculating pi is like following a recipe. so for essentially, you use grandma's recipe, a classical math, which, works well but takes lots of steps. and scientists just found, molecular gastronomy recipe. they use completely different ingredients, particular scattering, formulas to bake the exact same cake, but, much easier. so, just keep that in mind. and maybe even like a tiktok video. now they show, you know, you used to bake pasta like this, but now you just put in a baked pan and the sauce and close it up, and you're done. it's a whole new way of doing it, and it's much easier. so definitely, this will potentially lead to smarter algorithms, simulation tech. it could, lead to more accurate physics engines and scientific simulations. and, there won't be a lot of change for the average user. your calculator app won't change. nasa only needs about 15 digits of pi to land a rover on mars, and we already have that. so, but it's interesting that, you know, beyond when we're talking about string theory and the universe, this will allow us to complicate things a little bit better. yeah. so having said all of that, quantum pi is a masterpiece of theoretical beauty that unites physics and math even it if it isn't replacing our supercomputer algorithms just yet. so does knowing the universe has hidden connections excite you, or do you just want your computer to run faster? let us know in the comments below. we'd love to hear from you.