Approaching $\sum_{n=1}^\infty\frac{\overline{H}_n-H_{n/2}}{n^3}$ elegantly

calculusharmonic-numbersintegrationpolylogarithmsequences-and-series

How to elegantly prove that $$\sum_{n=1}^\infty\frac{\overline{H}_n-H_{n/2}}{n^3}=2\text{Li}_4\left(\frac12\right)-\frac{49}{16}\zeta(4)+\frac72\ln2\zeta(3)-\frac12\ln^22\zeta(2)+\frac1{12}\ln^42$$

where $\overline{H}_n=\sum_{k=1}^n\frac{(-1)^{k-1}}{k}$ is the alternating harmonic number, $H_{n/2}=\int_0^1\frac{1-x^{n/2}}{1-x}\ dx$ is the harmonic number, $\text{Li}_r$ is the polylogarithm function and $\zeta$ is the Riemann zeta function.

What I mean by elegant solutions is solutions involving cancellation of challenging integrals/ sums , symmetry , manipulations and new ideas that save us tedious calculations. However, all solutions are appreciated.

Thank you

Best Answer

Expanding on my comment above:

Let $\mathcal{S}$ denote the value the following infinite series:

$$\mathcal{S}:=\sum_{n=1}^{\infty}\frac{\overline{H}_{n}-H_{n/2}}{n^{3}}\approx0.260631,$$

where $\overline{H}_{n}$ here denotes the $n$-th alternating harmonic number and is defined for each positive integer $n$ by the finite series

$$\overline{H}_{n}:=\sum_{k=1}^{n}\frac{\left(-1\right)^{k-1}}{k};~~~\small{n\in\mathbb{N}},$$

and the $\alpha$-th harmonic number $H_{\alpha}$ is defined here for real argument $\alpha$ through Euler's integral representation

$$H_{\alpha}:=\int_{0}^{1}\mathrm{d}t\,\frac{1-t^{\alpha}}{1-t};~~~\small{\alpha\in\left(-1,\infty\right)}.$$


An integral representation for the alternating harmonic numbers can be obtained as follows: for $n\in\mathbb{N}$, we have

$$\begin{align} \overline{H}_{n} &=\sum_{k=1}^{n}\frac{\left(-1\right)^{k-1}}{k}\\ &=\sum_{k=1}^{n}\left(-1\right)^{k-1}\int_{0}^{1}\mathrm{d}t\,t^{k-1}\\ &=\int_{0}^{1}\mathrm{d}t\,\sum_{k=1}^{n}\left(-t\right)^{k-1}\\ &=\int_{0}^{1}\mathrm{d}t\,\frac{1-\left(-t\right)^{n}}{1+t}.\\ \end{align}$$

The difference $\overline{H}_{n}-H_{n/2}$ can be expressed as a single definite integral by combining the representations above:

$$\begin{align} \overline{H}_{n}-H_{n/2} &=\int_{0}^{1}\mathrm{d}x\,\frac{1-\left(-x\right)^{n}}{1+x}-\int_{0}^{1}\mathrm{d}t\,\frac{1-t^{n/2}}{1-t}\\ &=\int_{0}^{1}\mathrm{d}x\,\frac{1-\left(-x\right)^{n}}{1+x}-\int_{0}^{1}\mathrm{d}x\,\frac{2x\left(1-x^{n}\right)}{1-x^{2}};~~~\small{\left[t=x^{2}\right]}\\ &=\int_{0}^{1}\mathrm{d}x\,\left[\frac{1-\left(-x\right)^{n}}{1+x}-\frac{2x\left(1-x^{n}\right)}{1-x^{2}}\right]\\ &=\int_{0}^{1}\mathrm{d}x\,\left[\frac{1-\left(-x\right)^{n}}{1+x}-\frac{1-x^{n}}{1-x}+\frac{1-x^{n}}{1+x}\right]\\ &=\int_{0}^{1}\mathrm{d}x\,\left[\frac{2}{1+x}-\frac{1-x^{n}}{1-x}-\frac{x^{n}+\left(-x\right)^{n}}{1+x}\right].\\ \end{align}$$


Recall that for positive integer order $p$ and complex argument $z$, the $p$-th order polylogarithm $\operatorname{Li}_{p}{\left(z\right)}$ is defined on the unit disk by the infinite series

$$\operatorname{Li}_{p}{\left(z\right)}:=\sum_{n=1}^{\infty}\frac{z^{n}}{n^{p}};~~~\small{p>1\land\left|z\right|\le1}.$$

Using the technique of switching the order of summation and integration, it's then a straightforward matter to convert the series representation for $\mathcal{S}$ into a polylogarithmic integral. We find

$$\begin{align} \mathcal{S} &=\sum_{n=1}^{\infty}\frac{\overline{H}_{n}-H_{n/2}}{n^{3}}\\ &=\sum_{n=1}^{\infty}\frac{1}{n^{3}}\int_{0}^{1}\mathrm{d}x\,\left[\frac{2}{1+x}-\frac{1-x^{n}}{1-x}-\frac{x^{n}+\left(-x\right)^{n}}{1+x}\right]\\ &=\int_{0}^{1}\mathrm{d}x\,\sum_{n=1}^{\infty}\frac{1}{n^{3}}\left[\frac{2}{1+x}-\frac{1-x^{n}}{1-x}-\frac{x^{n}+\left(-x\right)^{n}}{1+x}\right]\\ &=\int_{0}^{1}\mathrm{d}x\,\left[\sum_{n=1}^{\infty}\frac{1}{n^{3}}\cdot\frac{2}{1+x}-\sum_{n=1}^{\infty}\frac{1}{n^{3}}\cdot\frac{1-x^{n}}{1-x}-\sum_{n=1}^{\infty}\frac{1}{n^{3}}\cdot\frac{x^{n}+\left(-x\right)^{n}}{1+x}\right]\\ &=\int_{0}^{1}\mathrm{d}x\,\left[\frac{2\operatorname{Li}_{3}{\left(1\right)}}{1+x}-\frac{\operatorname{Li}_{3}{\left(1\right)}-\operatorname{Li}_{3}{\left(x\right)}}{1-x}-\frac{\operatorname{Li}_{3}{\left(x\right)}+\operatorname{Li}_{3}{\left(-x\right)}}{1+x}\right]\\ &=\int_{0}^{1}\mathrm{d}x\,\left[\frac{\operatorname{Li}_{3}{\left(1\right)}}{1+x}-\frac{\operatorname{Li}_{3}{\left(1\right)}-\operatorname{Li}_{3}{\left(x\right)}}{1-x}+\frac{\operatorname{Li}_{3}{\left(1\right)}-\operatorname{Li}_{3}{\left(-x\right)}}{1+x}-\frac{\operatorname{Li}_{3}{\left(x\right)}}{1+x}\right].\\ \end{align}$$


Define the function $F:\left(-\infty,1\right]\rightarrow\mathbb{R}$ via the polylogarithmic expression

$$F{\left(x\right)}:=\frac12\left[\operatorname{Li}_{2}{\left(x\right)}\right]^{2}-\ln{\left(1-x\right)}\left[\operatorname{Li}_{3}{\left(1\right)}-\operatorname{Li}_{3}{\left(x\right)}\right];~~~\small{x<1},$$

$$F{\left(1\right)}:=\lim_{x\to1^{-}}\bigg{[}\frac12\left[\operatorname{Li}_{2}{\left(x\right)}\right]^{2}-\ln{\left(1-x\right)}\left[\operatorname{Li}_{3}{\left(1\right)}-\operatorname{Li}_{3}{\left(x\right)}\right]\bigg{]}=\frac12\left[\operatorname{Li}_{2}{\left(1\right)}\right]^{2}.$$

Calculating the derivative of $F$, we find

$$\begin{align} \frac{d}{dx}F{\left(x\right)} &=\frac{d}{dx}\bigg{[}\frac12\left[\operatorname{Li}_{2}{\left(x\right)}\right]^{2}-\ln{\left(1-x\right)}\left[\operatorname{Li}_{3}{\left(1\right)}-\operatorname{Li}_{3}{\left(x\right)}\right]\bigg{]}\\ &=-\frac{\ln{\left(1-x\right)}\operatorname{Li}_{2}{\left(x\right)}}{x}-\ln{\left(1-x\right)}\left[-\frac{\operatorname{Li}_{2}{\left(x\right)}}{x}\right]+\frac{1}{1-x}\left[\operatorname{Li}_{3}{\left(1\right)}-\operatorname{Li}_{3}{\left(x\right)}\right]\\ &=\frac{\operatorname{Li}_{3}{\left(1\right)}-\operatorname{Li}_{3}{\left(x\right)}}{1-x},\\ \end{align}$$

i.e., $F{\left(x\right)}$ is an antiderivative of $\frac{\operatorname{Li}_{3}{\left(1\right)}-\operatorname{Li}_{3}{\left(x\right)}}{1-x}$, allowing us to reduce the integral form for $\mathcal{S}$ to

$$\begin{align} \mathcal{S} &=\int_{0}^{1}\mathrm{d}x\,\left[\frac{\operatorname{Li}_{3}{\left(1\right)}}{1+x}-\frac{\operatorname{Li}_{3}{\left(1\right)}-\operatorname{Li}_{3}{\left(x\right)}}{1-x}+\frac{\operatorname{Li}_{3}{\left(1\right)}-\operatorname{Li}_{3}{\left(-x\right)}}{1+x}-\frac{\operatorname{Li}_{3}{\left(x\right)}}{1+x}\right]\\ &=\int_{0}^{1}\mathrm{d}x\,\left[\frac{\operatorname{Li}_{3}{\left(1\right)}}{1+x}-\frac{\operatorname{Li}_{3}{\left(1\right)}-\operatorname{Li}_{3}{\left(x\right)}}{1-x}+\frac{\operatorname{Li}_{3}{\left(1\right)}-\operatorname{Li}_{3}{\left(-x\right)}}{1+x}\right]-\int_{0}^{1}\mathrm{d}x\,\frac{\operatorname{Li}_{3}{\left(x\right)}}{1+x}\\ &=\int_{0}^{1}\mathrm{d}x\,\frac{d}{dx}\left[\operatorname{Li}_{3}{\left(1\right)}\ln{\left(1+x\right)}-F{\left(x\right)}-F{\left(-x\right)}\right]-\int_{0}^{1}\mathrm{d}x\,\frac{\operatorname{Li}_{3}{\left(x\right)}}{1+x}\\ &=\operatorname{Li}_{3}{\left(1\right)}\ln{\left(2\right)}-F{\left(1\right)}-F{\left(-1\right)}-\int_{0}^{1}\mathrm{d}x\,\frac{\operatorname{Li}_{3}{\left(x\right)}}{1+x}\\ &=\operatorname{Li}_{3}{\left(1\right)}\ln{\left(2\right)}-\frac12\left[\operatorname{Li}_{2}{\left(1\right)}\right]^{2}-\frac12\left[\operatorname{Li}_{2}{\left(-1\right)}\right]^{2}+\ln{\left(2\right)}\left[\operatorname{Li}_{3}{\left(1\right)}-\operatorname{Li}_{3}{\left(-1\right)}\right]\\ &~~~~~-\int_{0}^{1}\mathrm{d}x\,\frac{\operatorname{Li}_{3}{\left(x\right)}}{1+x}\\ &=\frac{11}{4}\ln{\left(2\right)}\,\zeta{\left(3\right)}-\frac58\left[\zeta{\left(2\right)}\right]^{2}-\int_{0}^{1}\mathrm{d}x\,\frac{\operatorname{Li}_{3}{\left(x\right)}}{1+x}.\\ \end{align}$$

It remains to evaluate the integral $\mathcal{I}:=\int_{0}^{1}\mathrm{d}x\,\frac{\operatorname{Li}_{3}{\left(x\right)}}{1+x}$. Now, there is an extremely tidy way to calculate this integral in terms of Nielsen generalized polylogarithms:

$$\begin{align} \mathcal{I} &=\int_{0}^{1}\mathrm{d}x\,\frac{\operatorname{Li}_{3}{\left(x\right)}}{1+x}\\ &=\ln{\left(2\right)}\,\zeta{\left(3\right)}-\int_{0}^{1}\mathrm{d}x\,\frac{\ln{\left(1+x\right)}\operatorname{Li}_{2}{\left(x\right)}}{x};~~~\small{I.B.P.s}\\ &=\ln{\left(2\right)}\,\zeta{\left(3\right)}-\frac12\left[\zeta{\left(2\right)}\right]^{2}+\int_{0}^{1}\mathrm{d}x\,\frac{\ln{\left(1-x\right)}\operatorname{Li}_{2}{\left(-x\right)}}{x};~~~\small{I.B.P.s}\\ &=\ln{\left(2\right)}\,\zeta{\left(3\right)}-\frac12\left[\zeta{\left(2\right)}\right]^{2}+\int_{0}^{1}\mathrm{d}x\,\frac{\ln{\left(1-x\right)}}{x}\int_{0}^{1}\mathrm{d}y\,\frac{(-1)\ln{\left(1+xy\right)}}{y}\\ &=\ln{\left(2\right)}\,\zeta{\left(3\right)}-\frac12\left[\zeta{\left(2\right)}\right]^{2}-\int_{0}^{1}\mathrm{d}x\int_{0}^{1}\mathrm{d}y\,\frac{\ln{\left(1-x\right)}\ln{\left(1+xy\right)}}{xy}\\ &=\ln{\left(2\right)}\,\zeta{\left(3\right)}-\frac12\left[\zeta{\left(2\right)}\right]^{2}-\int_{0}^{1}\mathrm{d}y\int_{0}^{1}\mathrm{d}x\,\frac{\ln{\left(1-x\right)}\ln{\left(1+xy\right)}}{xy}\\ &=\ln{\left(2\right)}\,\zeta{\left(3\right)}-\frac12\left[\zeta{\left(2\right)}\right]^{2}-\int_{0}^{1}\mathrm{d}y\,\frac{1}{y}\int_{0}^{1}\mathrm{d}x\,\frac{\ln{\left(1-x\right)}\ln{\left(1+yx\right)}}{x}\\ &=\ln{\left(2\right)}\,\zeta{\left(3\right)}-\frac12\left[\zeta{\left(2\right)}\right]^{2}-\int_{0}^{1}\mathrm{d}y\,\frac{1}{y}\left[\operatorname{Li}_{3}{\left(-y\right)}+S_{1,2}{\left(-y\right)}\right]\\ &=\ln{\left(2\right)}\,\zeta{\left(3\right)}-\frac12\left[\zeta{\left(2\right)}\right]^{2}-\int_{0}^{1}\mathrm{d}y\,\frac{d}{dy}\left[\operatorname{Li}_{4}{\left(-y\right)}+S_{2,2}{\left(-y\right)}\right]\\ &=\ln{\left(2\right)}\,\zeta{\left(3\right)}-\frac12\left[\zeta{\left(2\right)}\right]^{2}-\left[\operatorname{Li}_{4}{\left(-1\right)}+S_{2,2}{\left(-1\right)}\right]\\ &=\ln{\left(2\right)}\,\zeta{\left(3\right)}-\frac12\left[\zeta{\left(2\right)}\right]^{2}+\frac78\zeta{\left(4\right)}-S_{2,2}{\left(-1\right)}.\\ \end{align}$$


To summarize, the evaluation of the series $\mathcal{S}$ can be boiled down to finding a closed-form expression for the Nielsen generalized polylogarithmic term $S_{2,2}{\left(-1\right)}$.