Past exam of the mathematics course of the year 1 of the natural sciences course of the University of Cambridge 2006 Paper 2 6 b Solution Created 2026-10-18 Updated 2026-10-20
For , monotonicity gives . Integrating over that unit interval proves the strict inequalities, equivalently for .
Let be the harmonic number and define , . The same integral comparison gives and . Also and . The monotone convergence theorem for sequences therefore gives a common finite limit, Euler's constant .
The integral bounds for Euler's constant start at and . Strict monotonicity, already at the next index, makes the limit bounds strict:Positivity is explicit because . This establishes the required limit without assuming its decimal value.
