Re: Computing decimals of pi



James H. Newman wrote:
Are there any algorithms out there to compute pi to an arbitrary number of decimal places N, in such a way that intermediate computations do not have to be carried out to precision N?

(I'm understanding this question has trying to find the k'th digit of pi without having to generate the (k-1) digits.)

In any base of the form 2^n, where n is a positive integer > 0, it is possible to do so. In the decimal base, the answer is "There has not been proven to be no algorithm, but we do not know of one."
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