Degenerate Conic

Computing Pi

The digits of \(\pi\) can be computed using the "Spigot algorithm" [1-2]. The interesting thing about this algorithm is that it doesn't use any floating point computations, only integers.

A Fortran version of the algorithm is given below (a translation of the Pascal program in the reference). It computes the first 10,000 digits of \(\pi\). The nines and predigit business is because the algorithm will occasionally output 10 as the next digit, and the 1 will need to be added to the previous digit. If we know in advance that this won't occur for a given range of digits, then the code can be greatly simplified. It can also be reformulated to compute multiple digits at a time if we change the base (see [1] for the simplified version in base 10,000).

subroutine compute_pi()

    implicit none

    integer, parameter :: n = 10000 ! number of digits to compute
    integer, parameter :: len = 10*n/3 + 1

    integer :: i, j, k, q, x, nines, predigit
    integer, dimension(len) :: a

    a = 2
    nines = 0
    predigit = 0

    do j = 1, n
        q = 0
        do i = len, 1, -1
            x = 10*a(i) + q*i
            a(i) = mod(x, 2*i - 1)
            q = x/(2*i - 1)
        end do
        a(1) = mod(q, 10)
        q = q/10
        if (q == 9) then
            nines = nines + 1
        else if (q == 10) then
            write (*, '(I1)', advance='NO') predigit + 1
            do k = 1, nines
                write (*, '(I1)', advance='NO') 0
            end do
            predigit = 0
            nines = 0
        else
            if (j == 2) then
                write (*, '(I1,".")', advance='NO') predigit
            else if (j /= 1) then
                write (*, '(I1)', advance='NO') predigit
            end if
            predigit = q
            if (nines /= 0) then
            do k = 1, nines
                write (*, '(I1)', advance='NO') 9
            end do
            nines = 0
            end if
        end if
    end do
    write (*, '(I1)', advance='NO') predigit

end subroutine compute_pi

The algorithm as originally published contained a mistake (len = 10*n/3). The correction is due to [3]. The code above produces the following output:

3.141592653589793238462643383279502884197169399375105820974944592307816406286208998628034825342117067982148086513282306647093844609550582231725359408128481117450284102701938521105559644622948954930381964428810975665933446128475648233786783165271201909145648566923460348610454326648213393607260249141273724587006606315588174881520920962829254091715364367892590360011330530548820466521384146951941511609433057270365759591953092186117381932611793105118548074462379962749567351885752724891227938183011949129833673362440656643086021394946395224737190702179860943702770539217176293176752384674818467669405132000568127145263560827785771342757789609173637178721468440901224953430146549585371050792279689258923542019956112129021960864034418159813629774771309960518707211349999998372978049951059731732816096318595024459455346908302642522308253344685035261931188171010003137838752886587533208381420617177669147303598253490428755468731159562863882353787593751957781857780532171226806613001927876611195909216420198938095257201065485863278865936153381827968230301952035301852968995773622599413891249721775283479131515574857242454150695950829533116861727855889075098381754637464939319255060400927701671139009848824012858361603563707660104710181942955596198946767837449448255379774726847104047534646208046684259069491293313677028989152104752162056966024058038150193511253382430035587640247496473263914199272604269922796782354781636009341721641219924586315030286182974555706749838505494588586926995690927210797509302955321165344987202755960236480665499119881834797753566369807426542527862551818417574672890977772793800081647060016145249192173217214772350141441973568548161361157352552133475741849468438523323907394143334547762416862518983569485562099219222184272550254256887671790494601653466804988627232791786085784383827967976681454100953883786360950680064225125205117392984896084128488626945604241965285022210661186306744278622039194945047123713786960956364371917287467764657573962413890865832645995813390478027590099465764078951269468398352595709825822620522489407726719478268482601476990902640136394437455305068203496252451749399651431429809190659250937221696461515709858387410597885959772975498930161753928468138268683868942774155991855925245953959431049972524680845987273644695848653836736222626099124608051243884390451244136549762780797715691435997700129616089441694868555848406353422072225828488648158456028506016842739452267467678895252138522549954666727823986456596116354886230577456498035593634568174324112515076069479451096596094025228879710893145669136867228748940560101503308617928680920874760917824938589009714909675985261365549781893129784821682998948722658804857564014270477555132379641451523746234364542858444795265867821051141354735739523113427166102135969536231442952484937187110145765403590279934403742007310578539062198387447808478489683321445713868751943506430218453191048481005370614680674919278191197939952061419663428754440643745123718192179998391015919561814675142691239748940907186494231961567945208095146550225231603881930142093762137855956638937787083039069792077346722182562599661501421503068038447734549202605414665925201497442850732518666002132434088190710486331734649651453905796268561005508106658796998163574736384052571459102897064140110971206280439039759515677157700420337869936007230558763176359421873125147120532928191826186125867321579198414848829164470609575270695722091756711672291098169091528017350671274858322287183520935396572512108357915136988209144421006751033467110314126711136990865851639831501970165151168517143765761835155650884909989859982387345528331635507647918535893226185489632132933089857064204675259070915481416549859461637180270981994309924488957571282890592323326097299712084433573265489382391193259746366730583604142813883032038249037589852437441702913276561809377344403070746921120191302033038019762110110044929321516084244485963766983895228684783123552658213144957685726243344189303968642624341077322697802807318915441101044682325271620105265227211166039666557309254711055785376346682065310989652691862056476931257058635662018558100729360659876486117910453348850346113657686753249441668039626579787718556084552965412665408530614344431858676975145661406800700237877659134401712749470420562230538994561314071127000407854733269939081454664645880797270826683063432858785698305235808933065757406795457163775254202114955761581400250126228594130216471550979259230990796547376125517656751357517829666454779174501129961489030463994713296210734043751895735961458901938971311179042978285647503203198691514028708085990480109412147221317947647772622414254854540332157185306142288137585043063321751829798662237172159160771669254748738986654949450114654062843366393790039769265672146385306736096571209180763832716641627488880078692560290228472104031721186082041900042296617119637792133757511495950156604963186294726547364252308177036751590673502350728354056704038674351362222477158915049530984448933309634087807693259939780541934144737744184263129860809988868741326047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7

See also

1. S. Rabinowitz, Abstract 863–11–482: A Spigot Algorithm for Pi, American Mathematical Society, 12(1991)30, 1991.
2. S. Rabinowitz, S. Wagon, "A Spigot Algorithm for the Digits of \(\pi\)", American Mathematical Monthly, Vol. 102, Issue 3, March 1995, p. 195-203.
3. J. Arndt, C. Haenel, π Unleashed, Springer, 2000.