I am trying to prove:
\sum_{s=0}^{\infty}\frac{1}{(sn)!}=\frac{1}{n}\sum_{r=0}^{n-1}\exp\left(\cos\left(\frac{2r\pi}{n}\right)\right)\cos\left(\sin\left(\frac{2r\pi}{n}\right)\right)
We know that \begin{align}\exp\left(\cos\theta+i\sin\theta\right)&=e^{\cos\theta}\times e^{i\sin\theta}\\& =e^{\cos\theta}\left(\cos(\sin\theta)+i\sin(\sin\theta)\right)\end{align}
We therefore have the equivalent:
\begin{align}\sum_{s=0}^{\infty}\frac{1}{(sn)!}&=\frac{1}{n}\sum_{r=0}^{n-1}\Re\left\{\exp\left(e^{\frac{2r\pi}{n}i}\right)\right\}\\n\sum_{s=0}^{\infty}\frac{1}{(sn)!}& = \sum_{r=0}^{n-1}\Re\left\{\exp\left(e^{\frac{2r\pi}{n}i}\right)\right\}\end{align}
Where \Re\{\} denotes the real part.
Attempt at induction:
Assume true for n=k Try to prove as a consequence it is true for n=k+1
\begin{align}\frac{1}{k+1}\sum_{r=0}^{(k+1)-1}\Re\left\{\exp\left(e^{\frac{2r\pi}{k+1}i}\right)\right\}&=\frac{1}{k+1}\sum_{r=0}^{k-1}\Re\left\{\exp\left(e^{\frac{2r\pi}{k+1}i}\right)\right\}+\frac{1}{k+1}\Re\left\{\exp e^{\left(\frac{2(k+1)\pi}{k+1}i\right)}\right\}\\& =\frac{1}{k+1}\sum_{r=0}^{k-1}\Re\left\{\exp\left(e^{\frac{2r\pi}{\color{red}{k+1}}i}\right)\right\}+\frac{1}{k+1}\exp(1)\end{align}
Am I along the right lines here?
I having concerns given the highlighted term in red. Specifically if this was \color{red}{k} I might have a chance at the induction step.
I have taken this from a question marked as difficult with a \dagger and so wanted to complete it naturally. (I'm preparing to teach harder material). Unfortunately there are no answers and so I can't even see if I'm on the right lines.
Any help would be gratefully appreciated.
An idea: the RHS is (the real part of) the average of the exponentials of nth-roots of unity. The LHS is a kind of lacunary series related to the exponential series. Maybe, by expanding each exponential in the RHS, many terms vanish and only one every n remains.
Credible, since every nth term has a nth power of a nth root of unity, that is, 1. The other corresponding terms of each series may give a permutation of the nth roots of unity, whose sum is zero.
To develop this idea, rewrite the RHS using \omega_n=\exp(2i\pi/n), a primitive nth root of unity, for integer n>0.
First, your RHS is \mathrm{Re}(S_n), with
S_n=\frac1n\sum_{r=0}^{n-1}\exp(\omega_n^r)=\frac1n\sum_{r=0}^{n-1}\left(\sum_{k=0}^\infty \frac{\omega_n^{rk}}{k!}\right)=\frac1n\sum_{k=0}^\infty\left(\frac{1}{k!} \sum_{r=0}^{n-1}\omega_n^{rk}\right)
(since the double sum above is absolutely convergent, you can exchange the summations)
The inner sum is, with e_{n,k}=\omega_n^k,
\sum_{r=0}^{n-1}\omega_n^{rk}=\sum_{r=0}^{n-1}e_{n,k}^r
If e_{n,k}\neq1, then the sum is
\frac{e_{n,k}^n-1}{e_{n,k}-1}=\frac{(\omega_n^n)^k-1}{e_{n,k}-1}=0
And if e_{n,k}=1, the sum is simply n.
Now, e_{n,k}=1 iff \omega_n^k=1, iff k=pn for some integer p.
Thus, the entire sum is
S_n=\frac{1}{n}\sum_{k=0}^\infty \frac{u_{n,k}}{k!}
Where u_{n,k}=n if k=pn and 0 otherwise, that is
S_n=\sum_{p=0}^\infty \frac{1}{(pn)!}
And finally,
\sum_{s=0}^\infty \frac{1}{(sn)!}=\frac1n\sum_{r=0}^{n-1}\exp(\omega_n^r)
By the way, taking the real part is not necessary, as we have also proved that S_n is a real number.
In a comment above, I mention an interesting integral. Actually, the RHS is trivially a Riemann sum, and by letting n\to\infty and estimating the rest of the LHS after the first term (which is always 1), you get
\int_0^{2\pi} \exp(\cos x) \cos(\sin x) \mathrm{d}x=2\pi
Since we have also proved the imaginary part of S_n is zero, you also get
\int_0^{2\pi} \exp(\cos x) \sin(\sin x) \mathrm{d}x=0
But this one was actually trivial: the integrand is both odd and periodic, so its integral on a period must be 0.
Now, thinking again about this integral, putting together the real and imaginary parts, it can be rewritten \displaystyle{\int_\Gamma \frac{e^z}{iz}\mathrm{d}z} (\Gamma being the unit circle), and this integral is immediately 2\pi by the residue theorem, so it's not that interesting.