|
Lagrange's Four-square Theorem
Lagrange's four-square theorem, also known as Bachet's conjecture, states that every natural number, nonnegative integer can be represented as a sum of four non-negative integer square number, squares. That is, the squares form an additive basis of order four: p = a^2 + b^2 + c^2 + d^2, where the four numbers a, b, c, d are integers. For illustration, 3, 31, and 310 can be represented as the sum of four squares as follows: \begin 3 & = 1^2+1^2+1^2+0^2 \\[3pt] 31 & = 5^2+2^2+1^2+1^2 \\[3pt] 310 & = 17^2+4^2+2^2+1^2 \\[3pt] & = 16^2 + 7^2 + 2^2 +1^2 \\[3pt] & = 15^2 + 9^2 + 2^2 +0^2 \\[3pt] & = 12^2 + 11^2 + 6^2 + 3^2. \end This theorem was proven by Joseph Louis Lagrange in 1770. It is a special case of the Fermat polygonal number theorem. Historical development From examples given in the ''Arithmetica,'' it is clear that Diophantus was aware of the theorem. This book was translated in 1621 into Latin by Claude Gaspard Bachet de Méziriac, Bachet (Claude Gaspard Bachet de Mézi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
|
 |
Distances Between Double Cube Corners
Distance is a numerical or occasionally qualitative measurement of how far apart objects, points, people, or ideas are. In physics or everyday usage, distance may refer to a physical length or an estimation based on other criteria (e.g. "two counties over"). The term is also frequently used metaphorically to mean a measurement of the amount of difference between two similar objects (such as statistical distance between probability distributions or edit distance between string (computer science), strings of text) or a degree of separation (as exemplified by distance (graph theory), distance between people in a social network). Most such notions of distance, both physical and metaphorical, are formalized in mathematics using the notion of a metric space. In the social sciences, distance can refer to a qualitative measurement of separation, such as social distance or psychological distance. Distances in physics and geometry The distance between physical locations can be defined ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
 |
Finite Field
In mathematics, a finite field or Galois field (so-named in honor of Évariste Galois) is a field (mathematics), field that contains a finite number of Element (mathematics), elements. As with any field, a finite field is a Set (mathematics), set on which the operations of multiplication, addition, subtraction and division are defined and satisfy certain basic rules. The most common examples of finite fields are the integers mod n, integers mod p when p is a prime number. The ''order'' of a finite field is its number of elements, which is either a prime number or a prime power. For every prime number p and every positive integer k there are fields of order p^k. All finite fields of a given order are isomorphism, isomorphic. Finite fields are fundamental in a number of areas of mathematics and computer science, including number theory, algebraic geometry, Galois theory, finite geometry, cryptography and coding theory. Properties A finite field is a finite set that is a fiel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
 |
Modular Arithmetic
In mathematics, modular arithmetic is a system of arithmetic operations for integers, other than the usual ones from elementary arithmetic, where numbers "wrap around" when reaching a certain value, called the modulus. The modern approach to modular arithmetic was developed by Carl Friedrich Gauss in his book '' Disquisitiones Arithmeticae'', published in 1801. A familiar example of modular arithmetic is the hour hand on a 12-hour clock. If the hour hand points to 7 now, then 8 hours later it will point to 3. Ordinary addition would result in , but 15 reads as 3 on the clock face. This is because the hour hand makes one rotation every 12 hours and the hour number starts over when the hour hand passes 12. We say that 15 is ''congruent'' to 3 modulo 12, written 15 ≡ 3 (mod 12), so that 7 + 8 ≡ 3 (mod 12). Similarly, if one starts at 12 and waits 8 hours, the hour hand will be at 8. If one instead waited twice as long, 16 hours, the hour hand would be on 4. This ca ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
|
Irreducible Element
In algebra, an irreducible element of an integral domain is a non-zero element that is not invertible (that is, is not a unit), and is not the product of two non-invertible elements. The irreducible elements are the terminal elements of a factorization process; that is, they are the factors that cannot be further factorized. If the irreducible factors of every non-zero non-unit element are uniquely defined, up to the multiplication by a unit, then the integral domain is called a unique factorization domain, but this does not need to happen in general for every integral domain. It was discovered in the 19th century that the rings of integers of some number fields are not unique factorization domains, and, therefore, that some irreducible elements can appear in some factorization of an element and not in other factorizations of the same element. The ignorance of this fact is the main error in many of the wrong proofs of Fermat's Last Theorem that were given during the three centur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
|
 |
Rational Number
In mathematics, a rational number is a number that can be expressed as the quotient or fraction of two integers, a numerator and a non-zero denominator . For example, is a rational number, as is every integer (for example, The set of all rational numbers is often referred to as "the rationals", and is closed under addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division by a nonzero rational number. It is a field under these operations and therefore also called the field of rationals or the field of rational numbers. It is usually denoted by boldface , or blackboard bold A rational number is a real number. The real numbers that are rational are those whose decimal expansion either terminates after a finite number of digits (example: ), or eventually begins to repeat the same finite sequence of digits over and over (example: ). This statement is true not only in base 10, but also in every other integer base, such as the binary and hexadecimal ones (see ). A real n ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
|
Field Norm
In mathematics, the (field) norm is a particular mapping defined in field theory, which maps elements of a larger field into a subfield. Formal definition Let ''K'' be a field and ''L'' a finite extension (and hence an algebraic extension) of ''K''. The field ''L'' is then a finite-dimensional vector space over ''K''. Multiplication by ''α'', an element of ''L'', :m_\alpha\colon L\to L :m_\alpha (x) = \alpha x, is a ''K''-linear transformation of this vector space into itself. The norm, N''L''/''K''(''α''), is defined as the determinant of this linear transformation. If ''L''/''K'' is a Galois extension, one may compute the norm of ''α'' ∈ ''L'' as the product of all the Galois conjugates of ''α'': :\operatorname_(\alpha)=\prod_ \sigma(\alpha), where Gal(''L''/''K'') denotes the Galois group of ''L''/''K''. (Note that there may be a repetition in the terms of the product.) For a general field extension ''L''/''K'', and nonzero ''α'' in ''L'', let ''σ''(''α ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
|
 |
Ring (mathematics)
In mathematics, a ring is an algebraic structure consisting of a set with two binary operations called ''addition'' and ''multiplication'', which obey the same basic laws as addition and multiplication of integers, except that multiplication in a ring does not need to be commutative. Ring elements may be numbers such as integers or complex numbers, but they may also be non-numerical objects such as polynomials, square matrices, functions, and power series. A ''ring'' may be defined as a set that is endowed with two binary operations called ''addition'' and ''multiplication'' such that the ring is an abelian group with respect to the addition operator, and the multiplication operator is associative, is distributive over the addition operation, and has a multiplicative identity element. (Some authors apply the term ''ring'' to a further generalization, often called a '' rng'', that omits the requirement for a multiplicative identity, and instead call the structure defi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
|
Half-integer
In mathematics, a half-integer is a number of the form n + \tfrac, where n is an integer. For example, 4\tfrac12,\quad 7/2,\quad -\tfrac,\quad 8.5 are all ''half-integers''. The name "half-integer" is perhaps misleading, as each integer n is itself half of the integer 2n. A name such as "integer-plus-half" may be more accurate, but while not literally true, "half integer" is the conventional term. Half-integers occur frequently enough in mathematics and in quantum mechanics that a distinct term is convenient. Note that halving an integer does not always produce a half-integer; this is only true for odd integers. For this reason, half-integers are also sometimes called half-odd-integers. Half-integers are a subset of the dyadic rationals (numbers produced by dividing an integer by a power of two). Notation and algebraic structure The set of all half-integers is often denoted \mathbb Z + \tfrac \quad = \quad \left( \tfrac \mathbb Z \right) \smallsetminus \mathbb Z ~. The integer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
|
 |
Quaternion
In mathematics, the quaternion number system extends the complex numbers. Quaternions were first described by the Irish mathematician William Rowan Hamilton in 1843 and applied to mechanics in three-dimensional space. The algebra of quaternions is often denoted by (for ''Hamilton''), or in blackboard bold by \mathbb H. Quaternions are not a field, because multiplication of quaternions is not, in general, commutative. Quaternions provide a definition of the quotient of two vectors in a three-dimensional space. Quaternions are generally represented in the form a + b\,\mathbf i + c\,\mathbf j +d\,\mathbf k, where the coefficients , , , are real numbers, and , are the ''basis vectors'' or ''basis elements''. Quaternions are used in pure mathematics, but also have practical uses in applied mathematics, particularly for calculations involving three-dimensional rotations, such as in three-dimensional computer graphics, computer vision, robotics, magnetic resonance i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
 |
Integer
An integer is the number zero (0), a positive natural number (1, 2, 3, ...), or the negation of a positive natural number (−1, −2, −3, ...). The negations or additive inverses of the positive natural numbers are referred to as negative integers. The set (mathematics), set of all integers is often denoted by the boldface or blackboard bold The set of natural numbers \mathbb is a subset of \mathbb, which in turn is a subset of the set of all rational numbers \mathbb, itself a subset of the real numbers \mathbb. Like the set of natural numbers, the set of integers \mathbb is Countable set, countably infinite. An integer may be regarded as a real number that can be written without a fraction, fractional component. For example, 21, 4, 0, and −2048 are integers, while 9.75, , 5/4, and Square root of 2, are not. The integers form the smallest Group (mathematics), group and the smallest ring (mathematics), ring containing the natural numbers. In algebraic number theory, the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
 |
Hurwitz Quaternion
In mathematics, a Hurwitz quaternion (or Hurwitz integer) is a quaternion whose components are ''either'' all integers ''or'' all half-integers (halves of odd integers; a mixture of integers and half-integers is excluded). The set of all Hurwitz quaternions is :H = \left\. That is, either ''a'', ''b'', ''c'', ''d'' are all integers, or they are all half-integers. ''H'' is closed under quaternion multiplication and addition, which makes it a subring of the ring of all quaternions H. Hurwitz quaternions were introduced by . A Lipschitz quaternion (or Lipschitz integer) is a quaternion whose components are all integers. The set of all Lipschitz quaternions :L = \left\ forms a subring of the Hurwitz quaternions ''H''. Hurwitz integers have the advantage over Lipschitz integers that it is possible to perform Euclidean division on them, obtaining a small remainder. Both the Hurwitz and Lipschitz quaternions are examples of noncommutative domains which are not division rings. Str ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
|
Proof By Contradiction
In logic, proof by contradiction is a form of proof that establishes the truth or the validity of a proposition by showing that assuming the proposition to be false leads to a contradiction. Although it is quite freely used in mathematical proofs, not every school of mathematical thought accepts this kind of nonconstructive proof as universally valid. More broadly, proof by contradiction is any form of argument that establishes a statement by arriving at a contradiction, even when the initial assumption is not the negation of the statement to be proved. In this general sense, proof by contradiction is also known as indirect proof, proof by assuming the opposite, and ''reductio ad impossibile''. A mathematical proof employing proof by contradiction usually proceeds as follows: #The proposition to be proved is ''P''. #We assume ''P'' to be false, i.e., we assume ''¬P''. #It is then shown that ''¬P'' implies falsehood. This is typically accomplished by deriving two mutually ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |