A Quartically Convergent Square Root Algorithm:
An Exercise in Forensic Paleo-Mathematics
David H Bailey, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, USA
DHB’s website:
http://crd.lbl.gov/~dhbailey!
Collaborator: Jonathan M. Borwein, University of Newcastle, Australia

1

A quartically convergent algorithm for Pi:
Jon and Peter Borwein’s first “big” result
In 1985, Jonathan and Peter Borwein published a “quartically convergent” algorithm
for π. “Quartically convergent” means that each iteration approximately quadruples
the number of correct digits (provided all iterations are performed with full precision):Set a0 = 6 - sqrt[2], and y0 = sqrt[2] - 1. Then iterate:
1 (1 yk4 )1/4
yk+1 =
1 + (1 yk4 )1/4
2ak+1 = ak (1 + yk+1 )4 22k+3 yk+1 (1 + yk+1 + yk+1)
Then ak, converge quartically to 1/π. This algorithm, together with the Salamin-Brent
scheme, has been employed in numerous computations of π.
Both this and the Salamin-Brent scheme are based on the arithmetic-geometric meanand some ideas due to Gauss, but evidently he (nor anyone else until 1976) ever sawthe connection to computation. Perhaps no one in the pre-computer age wasaccustomed to an “iterative” algorithm?
Ref: J. M. Borwein and P. B. Borwein, Pi and the AGM: A Study in Analytic Number Theory and ComputationalComplexity}, John Wiley, New York, 1987.
2

A quartically convergent algorithm forsquare roots
I have found a quartically convergent algorithm for square roots in a little-known
manuscript:· To compute the square root of q, let x0 be the initial approximation. Then iterate:

anxn+1=qx2n2xn= xn + ana2n2 (xn + an )Then xn converge quartically to sqrt[q]. For example, for q = 336009, x0 = 579:
Iteration
01234567Value
579.000000000000000000000000000000. . .
579.662833033259038411439488233421. . .
579.662833033134874975589542464552. . .
579.662833033134874975589542464552. . .
579.662833033134874975589542464552. . .
579.662833033134874975589542464552. . .
579.662833033134874975589542464552. . .
579.662833033134874975589542464552. . .
3

Relative error
1.143 ⇥ 10 3
2.142 ⇥ 10 13
2.631 ⇥ 10 52
5.993 ⇥ 10 208
1.612 ⇥ 10 830
8.449 ⇥ 10 3321
6.371 ⇥ 10 13282
2.060 ⇥ 10 53126

Actual algorithm statement from theoriginal manuscript“In the case of a number whose square root is to be found, divide [the difference fromthe square of the approximation] by the approximate root; multiply the denominator of
the resulting [fraction] by two; square [the result]; halve it; divide it by [the firstapproximation]; subtract [from the first approximation]; [the result is] the refinedroot.” [Translation].
Note that successive quantities are (in our notation):

an =

q

x2n

2xn

a2n,2 (xn + an ),a2n2xn + an ,a2n ,xn + ana2n2 (xn + an )4One of numerous applications
presented in the original manuscript
Problem: Find an accurate rational approximation to the solution of 3/4 x2 + 3/4 x = 7000
(arising from analysis of progressions).
Answer: x = (-3 + sqrt[336009]) / 6. To calculate an accurate value for sqrt[336009], start withthe approximation 579. Note that q = 336009 = 5792 + 768. Then calculate as follows:a0= (q – x02) / (2 x0) = 768 / 1158
x + a0= 579 + 768 / 1158
a02 / (2 (x0 + a0)) = 294912 / 777307500
Thus the refined root = 579 + 515225088 / 777307500 = 450576267588 / 777307500.
Note: This is 579.66283303325903841… (correct to 13 digits).
Sqrt[336009] = 579.66283303313487498…
The manuscript then performs a calculation to check that the original quadratic equation issatisfied. It obtains, for the left-hand side of the quadratic equation:
50753383762746743271936 / 7250483394675000000
which, after subtracting the correction 21743271936 / [7250483394675000000], gives:
50753383762725000000000 / 7250483394675000000 = 7000 exactly.

5

Proof that the scheme is quarticallyconvergent
The scheme can seen to be equivalent to two consecutive iterations of the NewtonRaphson iteration for the solution of x2 – q = 0:

xn+1

xn+2

= xn +x2n

q2xn= xn+1 += xn += xn +

qx2n+1q

2xn+1x2n2xn
q+

qx2n2

⇣x2n2xn= xn +

⇣

x2n

q2xn
⇣

+q

q x2xn + 2xnn

⌘⇣2
⌘ ⇣2

q xn
2xn

2xn
⇣
⌘
q x2n
2 xn + 2xn
⌘22

q xn
2xn

⇣

q x2n
xn + 2xnq x2nxn + 2xn

q x2n2xn

⌘2

⌘2

⌘

which is the same form as the manuscript iteration. Since two Newton iterations
achieve quartic convergence, so does the manuscript iteration.
6

Contents of the manuscript··
·
·
·
·
·
·

Solutions of systems of linear equations.
Indeterminate (i.e., Diophantine) equations of the second degree.
Arithmetic progressions of various types.
Rational approximations of square roots.
Additive series.
Product series.
Business applications.
Geometry.

7

Title? Author? Date?
Guesses?

8

The Bakhshali manuscript
Author: An unknown Indian scholar. The manuscript was found in 1881 in Bakhshali(near Peshawar, not far from Afghanistan border), then in India but now in Pakistan.
Here is the route to Bakhshali from bin Laden’s home in Abbottabad:

9The Bakhshali manuscript
Date: The manuscript appears to be a 10-11th century copy of an earlier work. Theconsensus is that the earlier work was written 0 – 400 CE.
Scholarly opinion:· Rudolf Hoernle: “3rd or 4th century CE.”
§

·
·
·
·
·

He notes that the document is written in the “Shloka” style, which was replaced by the“Arya” style prior to 500 CE, and furthermore that it was written in the “Gatha” dialect,
which was largely replaced by Sanskrit, at least in secular writings, prior to 300 CE.
Also, there are notational features (e.g., + is used for negative) that do not appear inlater documents.

B. Datta: “towards the beginning of the Christian era.”
M. N. Channabasappa: “200-400 CE.”L. V. Gurjar: “between 2nd century BCE and 2nd century CE.”
Hayashi: “seventh century.”
G. R. Kaye: “12th century.”§Most present-day scholars agree that Kaye’s analysis is flawed.

10Image of original Bakshali page withsquare root calculation (page 4 above)

50753383762746743271936-------------------------------------- "7250483394675000000
11Even earlier square roots?
Even earlier positional decimal arithmetic?
· Datta notes that as early as 300-400 BCE, a scholar wrote, after erroneously
assuming that π = sqrt[10], that the “circumference” of a circle of diameter 100,000
yojana (a unit of distance, approx. 11.5 km) is (approximately):316227 yojana + 3 gavyuti + 128 dhanu + 13 ½ angula, “and a little over.”· According to several historical sources, these distance units are:4 gavyuti = 1 yojana; 2000 dhanu = 1 gavyuti; 96 angula = 1 dhanu.
· Thus the “circumference” = 316227.766017578125 yojana.
100000 x sqrt[10] = 316227.766016837933…
This is 12-digit agreement! This has received only scant attention in existing
literature.
· Did Indian scholars know numerical square root algorithms back then?!
· Did Indian scholars know positional decimal arithmetic back then?!

12Forensic paleo-mathematics
What algorithm was used to compute sqrt[10] to this accuracy?
Note that 13 ½ angula, “and a little over” suggests 13 5/8. We can then compare as
follows:·
·
·
·
·
·

Manuscript value, with 13 1/2
Manuscript value, except with 13 5/8
One Heron iteration (316227)
One Bakhshali iteration (316000)
One Bakhshali iteration (316227)
Exact value of 100000 x sqrt[10]316227.76601757812500…
316227.76601774088541…
316227.76601776571892…
316227.76601684858667...
316227.76601683793319...
316227.76601683793319…

From these results, it appears that one Newton-Raphson-Heron iteration wasperformed, with 316227 as the starting value.
Even this calculation would require substantial numerical computation.
13

Another ancient Indian source:
The Lokavibhaga manuscript
The earliest document that exhibits familiarity with positional decimal arithmetic, andwhich at the same time can be accurately and unambiguously dated, is the Indiancosmological work Lokavibhaga (“Parts of the Universe”).
Here, for example, we find numerous huge numbers, such as 14236713,13107200000 and 70500000000000000, as well as many detailed calculations, e.g.,(14230249 - 355684) / 212 = 65446 13/212.
Near the end of the Lokavibhaga, the author provides detailed astronomical data thatenable modern scholars to confirm, in two independent ways, that this text waswritten on 25 August 458 CE (Julian calendar). The text also mentions that it waswritten in the 22nd year of the reign of Simhavarman, which corresponds to 458 CE.
As French historian Georges Ifrah points out, this information not only allows us todate the document with precision, but also proves its authenticity.

14

Aryabhata’s mathematical treatise
In 510 CE, the Indian mathematician
Aryabhata presented schemes not
only for various arithmetic operations,but also for square roots and cuberoots. Additionally, Aryabhata gave adecimal value of π = 3.1416 (approx.).
A statue of Aryabhata, on display at
the Inter-University Centre for
Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA)
in Pune, India, is shown here:15

Aryabhata’s “digital” square root
algorithm
4 53 69814 64404558 04966697
344486210060644440p67b 45c = 662 = 36b94/(2 · 6)c = 77 · (2 · 6) = 84

7472 = 49b578/(2 · 67)c = 4
4 · (2 · 67) = 536

442 = 16b4044/(2 · 674)c = 3
3 · (2 · 674) = 4044

79903

32 = 9Finished; result = 6743

16

Aryabhata’s “digital” cube root
algorithm
4 52 71 8
1 3422224 9 9459271652 9 33395422755954211p3b 45c = 333 = 27b184/(3 · 32 )c = 6 (too high, so take 5)5 · (3 · 32 ) = 135

53 · 52 · 3 = 22525743339544553 = 125b26242/(3 · 352 )c = 7
7 · (3 · 352 ) = 25725

73 · 72 · 35 = 5145

33073 = 343
Finished; result = 357

17The significance of positional decimalarithmetic with zero
Pierre-Simon Laplace explained:· It is India that gave us the ingenious method of expressing all numbers by meansof ten symbols, each symbol receiving a value of position as well as an absolutevalue; a profound and important idea which appears so simple to us now that weignore its true merit. But its very simplicity and the great ease which it has lent toall computations put our arithmetic in the first rank of useful inventions; and weshall appreciate the grandeur of this achievement the more when we rememberthat it escaped the genius of Archimedes and Apollonius, two of the greatest men
produced by antiquity.
French historian Georges Ifrah describes the significance in these terms:· Now that we can stand back from the story, the birth of our modern numbersystem seems a colossal event in the history of humanity, as momentous as themastery of fire, the development of agriculture, or the invention of writing, of thewheel, or of the steam engine.

18

The difficulty of pre-decimal arithmeticTobias Dantzig (father of George Dantzig, the inventor of linear programming):· Computations which a child can now perform required then the services of aspecialist, and what is now only a matter of a few minutes [by hand] meant in thetwelfth century days of elaborate work.
In the 1500s (before widespread adoption of decimal arithmetic in commerce), awealthy German merchant, consulting a scholar regarding which European university
offered the best education for his son, was told the following:· If you only want him to be able to cope with addition and subtraction, then any
French or German university will do. But if you are intent on your son going on tomultiplication and division--assuming that he has sufficient gifts--then you will
have to send him to Italy.

19The scientist-Pope Sylvester II· Gerbert of Aurillac traveled to Spain to learn
about Indian arithmetic system first-hand from
Arab scholars, then was the first Christian toteach mathematics using decimal arithmetic, allprior to his brief reign as Pope Sylvester II(999-1002 CE).
· Little progress was made at the time, in part
because of clerics who rumored that Sylvester II
had sold his soul to Lucifer during his travels toIslamic Spain.
· These accusations persisted until 1648, whenpapal authorities who reopened his tomb
reported that Sylvester’s body had not been
dismembered in penance for Satanic practices.
· Sylvester’s reign was a turbulent time, and hedied after a short reign. It is worth speculating
how history would have been different had thisremarkable scientist-Pope lived longer.
Excerpt from Gerbert’s geometry treatise.
20

Kicking and screaming· In 1202 CE, Leonardo of Pisa, also known as Fibonacci, reintroduced the Indiansystem into Europe with his book Liber Abaci.
· However, usage of the system remained limited for many years, in part because
the scheme was considered “diabolical,” due in part to the mistaken impressionthat it originated in the Arab world (in spite of Fibonacci’s clear descriptions of the“nine Indian figures” plus zero).
· Our modern English word “cipher” or “cypher,” which is derived from the Arabic
zephirum for zero, and which alternately means “zero” or “secret code” in modern
usage, is likely a linguistic memory of the time when using decimal arithmetic wasdeemed evidence of involvement in the occult.
· After much kicking and screaming, Europe finally adopted decimal arithmetic formathematical and scientific work (1300s and 1400s), but not universally forcommerce until nearly 1800.
In other words, positional decimal arithmetic was not fully adopted in Europe until atleast 1400 years (and possibly 2000 years) transpired after its discovery in India.

21

The Indian discovery of decimal arithmetic
in present-day math history books· In one popular work on the history of mathematics, although the author describes
Arab and Chinese mathematics in significant detail, he mentions the discovery of
positional decimal arithmetic in India only in one two-sentence passage.
· Another popular history of mathematics mentions the discovery of the “HinduArabic Numeral System,” but says only that§Positional value and a zero must have been introduced in India sometime before A.D.
800, because the Persian mathematician al-Khowarizmi describes such a completed
Hindu system in a book of A.D. 825.

· A third historical work briefly mentions this discovery, but cites a 662 CE Indian
manuscript as the earliest known source.
· A fourth reference states that the combination of decimal and positional arithmetic“appears in China and then in India.”
None of these authors devotes more than a few sentences to the subject, and, more
importantly, none suggests that this discovery is regarded as particularly significant.

22Eurocentric math versus
experimental math
Math historian G. G. Joseph writes [The Crest of the Peakcock: Non-European Rootsof Mathematics, Princeton University Press, 2011, pg. xiii]:
A Eurocentric approach to the history of mathematics is intimately connected with thedominant view of mathematics, both as a sociohistorical practice and as an intellectualactivity. Despite evidence to the contrary, a number of earlier histories viewed
mathematics as a deductive system, ideally proceeding from axiomatic foundations
and revealing, by the “necessary” unfolding of its pure abstract forms, the eternal/
universal laws of the “mind.”
The concept of mathematics found outside the Graeco-European praxis was very
different. The aim was not to build an imposing edifice on a few self-evident axioms
but to validate a result by any suitable method. Some of the most impressive work in
Indian and Chinese mathematics …, such as the summations of mathematical series,or the use of Pascal’s triangle in solving higher-order numerical equations or thederivations of infinite series, or “proofs” of the so-called Pythagorean theorem, involve
computations and visual demonstrations that were not formulated with reference toany formal deductive system.
23

References
1. David H. Bailey and Jonathan M. Borwein, “The Greatest MathematicalDiscovery?,” available at http://crd.lbl.gov/~dhbailey/dhbpapers/decimal.pdf
2. David H. Bailey and Jonathan M. Borwein, “Ancient Indian Square Roots: An
Exercise in Forensic Paleo-Mathematics,” available at
http://crd.lbl.gov/~dhbailey/dhbpapers/india-sqrt.pdf
3. Numerous source documents relevant to this topic are available in a protected
directory: http://www.dhbailey.com/india-math§

Virtually all of this material is out-of-print or otherwise very hard to obtain. In one case,the book is available only from five libraries worldwide. Some articles are fromobscure and/or defunct Indian math journals. Some obscure (and aging) books havebeen scanned in their entirety.

24