Efficient Display of Large Factorials in LaTeX

  • Thread starter CRGreathouse
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In summary, The speaker is looking for a way to store and display large factorials in LaTeX. They have tried to manually split the expression into lines but are looking for a better method. They ask if there is a better place to post this question for a response, but also suggest that it may not be necessary to display the large factorials. There may be an example of what they are looking for in the LaTeX thread in the General Discussion section of General Physics.
  • #1
CRGreathouse
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This is really a TeX/LaTeX question, but I wasn't sure where to put it. (Sorry!)

I was looking at "Factoring Factorial n" (Guy, Amer. Math. Monthly Oct. '98) and became interested in looking at large factorials. Before I could really get started manipulating them I wanted a good way to store them so I'm not doing so much algebraic manipulation by hand. This was when I realized that there was no good way to display them -- I don't know how to make LaTeX wrap the expression in math mode.

Is there a good way to do that? Here's an example of what I have, in the tersest format I was able to manage:
[tex]1000!=2^{994}3^{498}5^{249}7^{164}11^{98}13^{81}17^{61}19^{54}23^{44}29^{35}31^{33}37^{27}41^{24}43^{23}47^{21}53^{18}59^{16}61^{16}67^{14}71^{14}73^{13}79^{12}83^{12}89^{11}97^{10}101^9103^9107^9109^9113^8127^7131^7137^7139^7149^6151^6157^6163^6167^5173^5179^5181^5191^5193^5197^5199^5211^4223^4227^4229^4233^4239^4241^4251^3257^3263^3269^3271^3277^3281^3283^3293^3307^3311^3313^3317^3331^3337^2347^2349^2353^2359^2367^2373^2379^2383^2389^2397^2401^2409^2419^2421^2431^2433^2439^2443^2449^2457^2461^2463^2467^2479^2487^2491^2499^2503\cdot509\cdot521\cdot523\cdot541\cdot547\cdot557\cdot563\cdot569\cdot571\cdot577\cdot587\cdot593\cdot599\cdot601\cdot607\cdot613\cdot617\cdot619\cdot631\cdot641\cdot643\cdot647\cdot653\cdot659\cdot661\cdot673\cdot677\cdot683\cdot691\cdot701\cdot709\cdot719\cdot727\cdot733\cdot739\cdot743\cdot751\cdot757\cdot761\cdot769\cdot773\cdot787\cdot797\cdot809\cdot811\cdot821\cdot823\cdot827\cdot829\cdot839\cdot853\cdot857\cdot859\cdot863\cdot877\cdot881\cdot883\cdot887\cdot907\cdot911\cdot919\cdot929\cdot937\cdot941\cdot947\cdot953\cdot967\cdot971\cdot977\cdot983\cdot991\cdot997[/tex]

It won't even display here on the forums (at least not all of it), but you get the idea.

I'd like to find a method better than splitting it into lines manually with \noindent... . Thanks!
 
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  • #2
Is there a better place to post this to get a response?
 
  • #3
I posit that there's no real point in trying to display them.

That being said, there might be an example of exactly what you want to do in the LaTeX thread in the General Discussion part of General Physics.
 

Related to Efficient Display of Large Factorials in LaTeX

1. What is a factorial?

A factorial is a mathematical operation that is denoted by an exclamation mark (!). It is used to calculate the product of all positive integers less than or equal to a given number. For example, 5! (read as "5 factorial") is equal to 5 x 4 x 3 x 2 x 1, which is 120.

2. How do you display factorials in mathematical notation?

Factorials are typically displayed using the exclamation mark (!) symbol. For example, 5! is the mathematical notation for the factorial of 5.

3. What is the largest factorial that can be displayed accurately?

The largest factorial that can be displayed accurately depends on the computing system being used. In most systems, the largest factorial that can be accurately displayed is 20! which is equal to 2,432,902,008,176,640,000. Beyond this number, the factorial may not be accurately calculated due to limitations in the system's memory or processing power.

4. What is the significance of displaying factorials?

Factorials are commonly used in mathematics and statistics to calculate the number of possible permutations or combinations of a given set of objects. They are also used in probability calculations and in the analysis of algorithms. Displaying factorials can help in understanding the complexity of a problem and in finding solutions to various mathematical and statistical problems.

5. Are there any applications of displaying factorials in real life?

Yes, factorials have various applications in real life situations. For example, they can be used to calculate the number of possible combinations in a lottery game, or the number of ways a deck of cards can be arranged. They are also used in the analysis of algorithms in computer science and in the field of genetics to calculate the number of possible gene arrangements.

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