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Well-ordering Principle
In mathematics, the well-ordering principle states that every non-empty subset of nonnegative integers contains a least element. In other words, the set of nonnegative integers is well-ordered by its "natural" or "magnitude" order in which x precedes y if and only if y is either x or the sum of x and some nonnegative integer (other orderings include the ordering 2, 4, 6, ...; and 1, 3, 5, ...). The phrase "well-ordering principle" is sometimes taken to be synonymous with the " well-ordering theorem", according to which every set can be well-ordered. On other occasions it is understood to be the proposition that the set of integers \ contains a well-ordered subset, called the natural numbers, in which every nonempty subset contains a least element. Properties Depending on the framework in which the natural numbers are introduced, this (second-order) property of the set of natural numbers is either an axiom or a provable theorem. For example: * In Peano arithmetic, second-order ... [...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] |
Contrapositive
In logic and mathematics, contraposition, or ''transposition'', refers to the inference of going from a Conditional sentence, conditional statement into its logically equivalent contrapositive, and an associated proof method known as . The contrapositive of a statement has its Antecedent (logic), antecedent and consequent Negation, negated and Conversion (logic), swapped. Material conditional, Conditional statement P \rightarrow Q. In Logical connective, formulas: the contrapositive of P \rightarrow Q is \neg Q \rightarrow \neg P . If ''P'', Then ''Q''. — If not ''Q'', Then not ''P''. "If ''it is raining,'' then ''I wear my coat''." — "If ''I don't wear my coat,'' then ''it isn't raining''." The law of contraposition says that a conditional statement is true if, and only if, its contrapositive is true. Contraposition ( \neg Q \rightarrow \neg P ) can be compared with three other operations: ;Inverse (logic), Inversion (the inverse), \neg P \rightarrow \neg Q:"If ''it is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wellfoundedness
In mathematics, a binary relation is called well-founded (or wellfounded or foundational) on a set or, more generally, a class if every non-empty subset has a minimal element with respect to ; that is, there exists an such that, for every , one does not have . In other words, a relation is well-founded if: (\forall S \subseteq X)\; \neq \varnothing \implies (\exists m \in S) (\forall s \in S) \lnot(s \mathrel m) Some authors include an extra condition that is set-like, i.e., that the elements less than any given element form a set. Equivalently, assuming the axiom of dependent choice, a relation is well-founded when it contains no infinite descending chains, meaning there is no infinite sequence of elements of such that for every natural number . In order theory, a partial order is called well-founded if the corresponding strict order is a well-founded relation. If the order is a total order then it is called a well-order. In set theory, a set is called a well-f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Prime Number
A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a Product (mathematics), product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only ways of writing it as a product, or , involve 5 itself. However, 4 is composite because it is a product (2 × 2) in which both numbers are smaller than 4. Primes are central in number theory because of the fundamental theorem of arithmetic: every natural number greater than 1 is either a prime itself or can be factorization, factorized as a product of primes that is unique up to their order. The property of being prime is called primality. A simple but slow primality test, method of checking the primality of a given number , called trial division, tests whether is a multiple of any integer between 2 and . Faster algorithms include the Miller–Rabin primality test, which is fast but has a small chance of error ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fundamental Theorem Of Arithmetic
In mathematics, the fundamental theorem of arithmetic, also called the unique factorization theorem and prime factorization theorem, states that every integer greater than 1 is prime or can be represented uniquely as a product of prime numbers, up to the order of the factors. For example, : 1200 = 2^4 \cdot 3^1 \cdot 5^2 = (2 \cdot 2 \cdot 2 \cdot 2) \cdot 3 \cdot (5 \cdot 5) = 5 \cdot 2 \cdot 5 \cdot 2 \cdot 3 \cdot 2 \cdot 2 = \ldots The theorem says two things about this example: first, that 1200 be represented as a product of primes, and second, that no matter how this is done, there will always be exactly four 2s, one 3, two 5s, and no other primes in the product. The requirement that the factors be prime is necessary: factorizations containing composite numbers may not be unique (for example, 12 = 2 \cdot 6 = 3 \cdot 4). This theorem is one of the main reasons why 1 is not considered a prime number: if 1 were prime, then factorization into primes would not be unique; ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Integral Domain
In mathematics, an integral domain is a nonzero commutative ring in which the product of any two nonzero elements is nonzero. Integral domains are generalizations of the ring of integers and provide a natural setting for studying divisibility. In an integral domain, every nonzero element ''a'' has the cancellation property, that is, if , an equality implies . "Integral domain" is defined almost universally as above, but there is some variation. This article follows the convention that rings have a multiplicative identity, generally denoted 1, but some authors do not follow this, by not requiring integral domains to have a multiplicative identity. Noncommutative integral domains are sometimes admitted. This article, however, follows the much more usual convention of reserving the term "integral domain" for the commutative case and using " domain" for the general case including noncommutative rings. Some sources, notably Lang, use the term entire ring for integral domain ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Least Upper Bound Axiom
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 subset of with an upper bound has a ''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 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 intermediate value theorem, the Bolzano–Weierstrass theorem, the extreme valu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saunders Mac Lane
Saunders Mac Lane (August 4, 1909 – April 14, 2005), born Leslie Saunders MacLane, was an American mathematician who co-founded category theory with Samuel Eilenberg. Early life and education Mac Lane was born in Norwich, Connecticut, near where his family lived in Taftville, Connecticut, Taftville.. He was christened "Leslie Saunders MacLane", but "Leslie" fell into disuse because his parents, Donald MacLane and Winifred Saunders, came to dislike it. He began inserting a space into his surname because his first wife found it difficult to type the name without a space. He was the eldest of three brothers; one of his brothers, Gerald MacLane, also became a mathematics professor at Rice University and Purdue University. Another sister died as a baby. His father and grandfather were both ministers; his grandfather had been a Presbyterian, but was kicked out of the church for believing in evolution, and his father was a Congregational church, Congregationalist. His mother, Winifre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Garrett Birkhoff
Garrett Birkhoff (January 19, 1911 – November 22, 1996) was an American mathematician. He is best known for his work in lattice theory. The mathematician George Birkhoff (1884–1944) was his father. Life The son of the mathematician George David Birkhoff, Garrett was born in Princeton, New Jersey. He began the Harvard University BA course in 1928 after less than seven years of prior formal education. Upon completing his Harvard BA in 1932, he went to Cambridge University to study mathematical physics but switched to studying abstract algebra under Philip Hall. While visiting the University of Munich, he met Constantin Carathéodory who pointed him towards two important texts, Bartel Leendert van der Waerden, Van der Waerden on abstract algebra and Andreas Speiser, Speiser on group theory. Birkhoff held no Ph.D., a qualification British higher education did not emphasize at that time, and did not obtain an M.A. Nevertheless, after being a member of Harvard's Society of F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Infinite Descent
In mathematics, a proof by infinite descent, also known as Fermat's method of descent, is a particular kind of proof by contradiction used to show that a statement cannot possibly hold for any number, by showing that if the statement were to hold for a number, then the same would be true for a smaller number, leading to an infinite descent and ultimately a contradiction. It is a method which relies on the well-ordering principle, and is often used to show that a given equation, such as a Diophantine equation, has no solutions. Typically, one shows that if a solution to a problem existed, which in some sense was related to one or more natural numbers, it would necessarily imply that a second solution existed, which was related to one or more 'smaller' natural numbers. This in turn would imply a third solution related to smaller natural numbers, implying a fourth solution, therefore a fifth solution, and so on. However, there cannot be an infinity of ever-smaller natural numbers, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fermat
Pierre de Fermat (; ; 17 August 1601 – 12 January 1665) was a French mathematician who is given credit for early developments that led to infinitesimal calculus, including his technique of adequality. In particular, he is recognized for his discovery of an original method of finding the greatest and the smallest ordinates of curved lines, which is analogous to that of differential calculus, then unknown, and his research into number theory. He made notable contributions to analytic geometry, probability, and optics. He is best known for his Fermat's principle for light propagation and his Fermat's Last Theorem in number theory, which he described in a note at the margin of a copy of Diophantus' ''Arithmetica''. He was also a lawyer at the ''parlement'' of Toulouse, France. Biography Fermat was born in 1601 in Beaumont-de-Lomagne, France—the late 15th-century mansion where Fermat was born is now a museum. He was from Gascony, where his father, Dominique Fermat, was a wealthy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Minimal Criminal
In mathematics, a minimal counterexample is the smallest example which falsifies a claim, and a proof by minimal counterexample is a method of proof which combines the use of a minimal counterexample with the methods of proof by induction and proof by contradiction. More specifically, in trying to prove a proposition ''P'', one first assumes by contradiction that it is false, and that therefore there must be at least one counterexample. With respect to some idea of size (which may need to be chosen carefully), one then concludes that there is such a counterexample ''C'' that is ''minimal''. In regard to the argument, ''C'' is generally something quite hypothetical (since the truth of ''P'' excludes the possibility of ''C''), but it may be possible to argue that if ''C'' existed, then it would have some definite properties which, after applying some reasoning similar to that in an inductive proof, would lead to a contradiction, thereby showing that the proposition ''P'' is indeed tr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
