|
Construction Of The Real Numbers
In mathematics, there are several equivalent ways of defining the real numbers. One of them is that they form a complete ordered field that does not contain any smaller complete ordered field. Such a definition does not prove that such a complete ordered field exists, and the existence proof consists of constructing a mathematical structure that satisfies the definition. The article presents several such constructions. They are equivalent in the sense that, given the result of any two such constructions, there is a unique isomorphism of ordered field between them. This results from the above definition and is independent of particular constructions. These isomorphisms allow identifying the results of the constructions, and, in practice, to forget which construction has been chosen. Axiomatic definitions An axiomatic definition of the real numbers consists of defining them as the elements of a complete ordered field. This means the following: The real numbers form a set, commonly ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mathematics
Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many areas of mathematics, which include number theory (the study of numbers), algebra (the study of formulas and related structures), geometry (the study of shapes and spaces that contain them), Mathematical analysis, analysis (the study of continuous changes), and set theory (presently used as a foundation for all mathematics). Mathematics involves the description and manipulation of mathematical object, abstract objects that consist of either abstraction (mathematics), abstractions from nature orin modern mathematicspurely abstract entities that are stipulated to have certain properties, called axioms. Mathematics uses pure reason to proof (mathematics), prove properties of objects, a ''proof'' consisting of a succession of applications of in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Associativity
In mathematics, the associative property is a property of some binary operations that rearranging the parentheses in an expression will not change the result. In propositional logic, associativity is a Validity (logic), valid rule of replacement for well-formed formula, expressions in Formal proof, logical proofs. Within an expression containing two or more occurrences in a row of the same associative operator, the order in which the Operation (mathematics), operations are performed does not matter as long as the sequence of the operands is not changed. That is (after rewriting the expression with parentheses and in infix notation if necessary), rearranging the parentheses in such an expression will not change its value. Consider the following equations: \begin (2 + 3) + 4 &= 2 + (3 + 4) = 9 \,\\ 2 \times (3 \times 4) &= (2 \times 3) \times 4 = 24 . \end Even though the parentheses were rearranged on each line, the values of the expressions were not altered. Since this holds ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Archimedean Property
In abstract algebra and mathematical analysis, analysis, the Archimedean property, named after the ancient Greek mathematician Archimedes of Syracuse, Italy, Syracuse, is a property held by some algebraic structures, such as ordered or normed group (algebra), groups, and field (mathematics), fields. The property, as typically construed, states that given two positive numbers x and y, there is an integer n such that nx > y. It also means that the set of natural numbers is not bounded above. Roughly speaking, it is the property of having no ''infinitely large'' or ''infinitely small'' elements. It was Otto Stolz who gave the axiom of Archimedes its name because it appears as Axiom V of Archimedes’ ''On the Sphere and Cylinder''. The notion arose from the theory of magnitude (mathematics), magnitudes of ancient Greece; it still plays an important role in modern mathematics such as David Hilbert's Hilbert's axioms, axioms for geometry, and the theories of linearly ordered group, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dedekind-complete
In mathematics, the least-upper-bound property (sometimes called completeness, supremum property or l.u.b. property) is a fundamental property of the real numbers. More generally, a partially ordered set has the least-upper-bound property if every non-empty set (mathematics), subset of with an upper bound has a least upper bound, ''least'' upper bound (supremum) in . Not every (partially) ordered set has the least upper bound property. For example, the set \mathbb of all rational numbers with its natural order does ''not'' have the least upper bound property. The least-upper-bound property is one form of the Completeness of the real numbers, completeness axiom for the real numbers, and is sometimes referred to as Dedekind completeness.Willard says that an ordered space "X is Dedekind complete if every subset of X having an upper bound has a least upper bound." (pp. 124-5, Problem 17E.) It can be used to prove many of the fundamental results of real analysis, such as the intermedi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Least Upper Bound
In mathematics, the infimum (abbreviated inf; : infima) of a subset S of a partially ordered set P is the greatest element in P that is less than or equal to each element of S, if such an element exists. If the infimum of S exists, it is unique, and if ''b'' is a lower bound of S, then ''b'' is less than or equal to the infimum of S. Consequently, the term ''greatest lower bound'' (abbreviated as ) is also commonly used. The supremum (abbreviated sup; : suprema) of a subset S of a partially ordered set P is the least element in P that is greater than or equal to each element of S, if such an element exists. If the supremum of S exists, it is unique, and if ''b'' is an upper bound of S, then the supremum of S is less than or equal to ''b''. Consequently, the supremum is also referred to as the ''least upper bound'' (or ). The infimum is, in a precise sense, dual to the concept of a supremum. Infima and suprema of real numbers are common special cases that are important in analys ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Upper Bound
In mathematics, particularly in order theory, an upper bound or majorant of a subset of some preordered set is an element of that is every element of . Dually, a lower bound or minorant of is defined to be an element of that is less than or equal to every element of . A set with an upper (respectively, lower) bound is said to be bounded from above or majorized (respectively bounded from below or minorized) by that bound. The terms bounded above (bounded below) are also used in the mathematical literature for sets that have upper (respectively lower) bounds. Examples For example, is a lower bound for the set (as a subset of the integers or of the real numbers, etc.), and so is . On the other hand, is not a lower bound for since it is not smaller than every element in . and other numbers ''x'' such that would be an upper bound for ''S''. The set has as both an upper bound and a lower bound; all other numbers are either an upper bound or a lower bound for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Total Order
In mathematics, a total order or linear order is a partial order in which any two elements are comparable. That is, a total order is a binary relation \leq on some set X, which satisfies the following for all a, b and c in X: # a \leq a ( reflexive). # If a \leq b and b \leq c then a \leq c ( transitive). # If a \leq b and b \leq a then a = b ( antisymmetric). # a \leq b or b \leq a ( strongly connected, formerly called totality). Requirements 1. to 3. just make up the definition of a partial order. Reflexivity (1.) already follows from strong connectedness (4.), but is required explicitly by many authors nevertheless, to indicate the kinship to partial orders. Total orders are sometimes also called simple, connex, or full orders. A set equipped with a total order is a totally ordered set; the terms simply ordered set, linearly ordered set, toset and loset are also used. The term ''chain'' is sometimes defined as a synonym of ''totally ordered set'', but generally refers to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Transitive Relation
In mathematics, a binary relation on a set (mathematics), set is transitive if, for all elements , , in , whenever relates to and to , then also relates to . Every partial order and every equivalence relation is transitive. For example, less than and equality (mathematics), equality among real numbers are both transitive: If and then ; and if and then . Definition A homogeneous relation on the set is a ''transitive relation'' if, :for all , if and , then . Or in terms of first-order logic: :\forall a,b,c \in X: (aRb \wedge bRc) \Rightarrow aRc, where is the infix notation for . Examples As a non-mathematical example, the relation "is an ancestor of" is transitive. For example, if Amy is an ancestor of Becky, and Becky is an ancestor of Carrie, then Amy is also an ancestor of Carrie. On the other hand, "is the birth mother of" is not a transitive relation, because if Alice is the birth mother of Brenda, and Brenda is the birth mother of Claire, then it does ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Antisymmetric Relation
In mathematics, a binary relation R on a set X is antisymmetric if there is no pair of ''distinct'' elements of X each of which is related by R to the other. More formally, R is antisymmetric precisely if for all a, b \in X, \text \,aRb\, \text \,a \neq b\, \text \,bRa\, \text, or equivalently, \text \,aRb\, \text \,bRa\, \text \,a = b. The definition of antisymmetry says nothing about whether aRa actually holds or not for any a. An antisymmetric relation R on a set X may be reflexive (that is, aRa for all a \in X), irreflexive (that is, aRa for no a \in X), or neither reflexive nor irreflexive. A relation is asymmetric if and only if it is both antisymmetric and irreflexive. Examples The divisibility relation on the natural numbers is an important example of an antisymmetric relation. In this context, antisymmetry means that the only way each of two numbers can be divisible by the other is if the two are, in fact, the same number; equivalently, if n and m are distinct and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Reflexive Relation
In mathematics, a binary relation R on a set X is reflexive if it relates every element of X to itself. An example of a reflexive relation is the relation " is equal to" on the set of real numbers, since every real number is equal to itself. A reflexive relation is said to have the reflexive property or is said to possess reflexivity. Along with symmetry and transitivity, reflexivity is one of three properties defining equivalence relations. Etymology The word ''reflexive'' is originally derived from the Medieval Latin ''reflexivus'' ('recoiling' reflex.html" ;"title="f. ''reflex">f. ''reflex'' or 'directed upon itself') (c. 1250 AD) from the classical Latin ''reflexus-'' ('turn away', 'reflection') + ''-īvus'' (suffix). The word entered Early Modern English in the 1580s. The sense of the word meaning 'directed upon itself', as now used in mathematics, surviving mostly by its use in philosophy and grammar (cf. ''Reflexive verb'' and ''Reflexive pronoun''). The first e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Totally Ordered Set
In mathematics, a total order or linear order is a partial order in which any two elements are comparable. That is, a total order is a binary relation \leq on some set X, which satisfies the following for all a, b and c in X: # a \leq a ( reflexive). # If a \leq b and b \leq c then a \leq c ( transitive). # If a \leq b and b \leq a then a = b ( antisymmetric). # a \leq b or b \leq a ( strongly connected, formerly called totality). Requirements 1. to 3. just make up the definition of a partial order. Reflexivity (1.) already follows from strong connectedness (4.), but is required explicitly by many authors nevertheless, to indicate the kinship to partial orders. Total orders are sometimes also called simple, connex, or full orders. A set equipped with a total order is a totally ordered set; the terms simply ordered set, linearly ordered set, toset and loset are also used. The term ''chain'' is sometimes defined as a synonym of ''totally ordered set'', but generally refers to a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Inverse Element
In mathematics, the concept of an inverse element generalises the concepts of opposite () and reciprocal () of numbers. Given an operation denoted here , and an identity element denoted , if , one says that is a left inverse of , and that is a right inverse of . (An identity element is an element such that and for all and for which the left-hand sides are defined.) When the operation is associative, if an element has both a left inverse and a right inverse, then these two inverses are equal and unique; they are called the ''inverse element'' or simply the ''inverse''. Often an adjective is added for specifying the operation, such as in additive inverse, multiplicative inverse, and functional inverse. In this case (associative operation), an invertible element is an element that has an inverse. In a ring, an ''invertible element'', also called a unit, is an element that is invertible under multiplication (this is not ambiguous, as every element is invertible under ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
