Thread: Bernoulli numbers

I was solving some advanced problems in mathematics, well at least thats what the cover said, anyhow there was a question on Bernoulli numbers and polynomials and it was on finding the terms up to B_8 (x) and then solving some summations related to the polynomials and stuff like that. my question is what is the importance of bernoulli numbers and polynomials?? Btw when i was getting the polynomials up to B_8 (x) i realized that some orders of the polynomials have funny rational numbers at the end such as B_6 (x)= ..........+\frac{1}{42}. Turns out these rational numbers that tag on the polynomials are the bernoulli numbers.

Originally Posted by Heinsbergrelatz

I was solving some advanced problems in mathematics, well at least thats what the cover said, anyhow there was a question on Bernoulli numbers and polynomials and it was on finding the terms up to B_8 (x) and then solving some summations related to the polynomials and stuff like that. my question is what is the importance of bernoulli numbers and polynomials?? Btw when i was getting the polynomials up to B_8 (x) i realized that some orders of the polynomials have funny rational numbers at the end such as B_6 (x)= ..........+\frac{1}{42}. Turns out these rational numbers that tag on the polynomials are the bernoulli numbers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernoulli_number