AN-APERY-LIKE-DIFFERENCE-EQUATION-FOR-CATALAN’S-CONSTANT.pdfVIP

´ AN APERY-LIKE DIFFERENCE EQUATION FOR CATALAN’S CONSTANT Wadim Zudilin (Moscow) E-print math.NT/0201024 18 January 2002 Abstract. Applying Zeilberger’s algorithm of creative telescoping to a family of cer- tain very-well-poised hypergeometric series involving linear forms in Catalan’s constant with rational coefficients, we obtain a second-order difference equation for these forms and their coefficients. As a consequence we obtain a new way of fast calculation of Cata- lan’s constant as well as a new continued-fraction expansion for it. Similar arguments can be put forward to indicate a second-order difference equation and a new continued fraction for ζ (4) = π4/90, and we announce corresponding results at the end of this paper. 1. Introduction One of the most crucial and quite mysterious ingredients in Ap´ery’s proof [Ap], [Po] of the irrationality of ζ (2) and ζ (3) is the existence of the difference equations 2 2 2 (n + 1) un+1 − (11n + 11n + 3)un − n un−1 = 0, (1) u′ = 1, u′ = 3, v′ = 0, v′ = 5, 0 1 0 1 and 3 2 3 (n + 1) un+1 − (2n + 1)(17n + 17n + 5)un + n un = 0, ′′ ′′ ′′ ′′