1 − 2 + 3 − 4 + ⋯

In mathematics, 1 − 2 + 3 − 4 + ··· is the infinite series whose terms are the successive positive integers, given alternating signs. Using sigma summation notation the sum of the first m terms of the series can be expressed as The infinite series diverges, meaning that its sequence of partial sums, (1, −1, 2, −2, ...), does not tend towards any finite limit. Nonetheless, in the mid-18th century, Leonhard Euler wrote what he admitted to be a paradoxical equation:

1 − 2 + 3 − 4 + ⋯

In mathematics, 1 − 2 + 3 − 4 + ··· is the infinite series whose terms are the successive positive integers, given alternating signs. Using sigma summation notation the sum of the first m terms of the series can be expressed as The infinite series diverges, meaning that its sequence of partial sums, (1, −1, 2, −2, ...), does not tend towards any finite limit. Nonetheless, in the mid-18th century, Leonhard Euler wrote what he admitted to be a paradoxical equation: