200px, Leonhard Euler (1707–1783)
In
mathematics and
physics
Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which rel ...
, many topics are
named in honor of Swiss mathematician
Leonhard Euler
Leonhard Euler ( , ; 15 April 170718 September 1783) was a Swiss mathematician, physicist, astronomer, geographer, logician and engineer who founded the studies of graph theory and topology and made pioneering and influential discoveries in ma ...
(1707–1783), who made many important discoveries and innovations. Many of these items named after Euler include their own unique function, equation, formula, identity, number (single or sequence), or other mathematical entity. Many of these entities have been given simple and ambiguous names such as Euler's function, Euler's equation, and Euler's formula.
Euler's work touched upon so many fields that he is often the earliest written reference on a given matter. In an effort to avoid naming everything after Euler, some discoveries and theorems are attributed to the first person to have proved them ''after'' Euler.
Conjectures
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Euler's conjecture (Waring's problem)
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Euler's sum of powers conjecture
Euler's conjecture is a disproved conjecture in mathematics related to Fermat's Last Theorem. It was proposed by Leonhard Euler in 1769. It states that for all integers and greater than 1, if the sum of many th powers of positive integers is ...
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Euler's Graeco-Latin square conjecture
Equations
Usually, ''Euler's equation'' refers to one of (or a set of)
differential equation
In mathematics, a differential equation is an equation that relates one or more unknown functions and their derivatives. In applications, the functions generally represent physical quantities, the derivatives represent their rates of change, a ...
s (DEs). It is customary to classify them into
ODEs and
PDEs.
Otherwise, ''Euler's equation'' may refer to a non-differential equation, as in these three cases:
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Euler–Lotka equation, a
characteristic equation employed in mathematical demography
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Euler's pump and turbine equation
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Euler transform used to accelerate the convergence of an alternating series and is also frequently applied to the
hypergeometric series
Ordinary differential equations
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Euler rotation equations, a set of
first-order ODEs concerning the rotations of a
rigid body
In physics, a rigid body (also known as a rigid object) is a solid body in which deformation is zero or so small it can be neglected. The distance between any two given points on a rigid body remains constant in time regardless of external fo ...
.
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Euler–Cauchy equation, a linear equidimensional
second-order ODE with
variable coefficient
In mathematics, an ordinary differential equation (ODE) is a differential equation whose unknown(s) consists of one (or more) function(s) of one variable and involves the derivatives of those functions. The term ''ordinary'' is used in contrast ...
s. Its second-order version can emerge from
Laplace equation
In mathematics and physics, Laplace's equation is a second-order partial differential equation named after Pierre-Simon Laplace, who first studied its properties. This is often written as
\nabla^2\! f = 0 or \Delta f = 0,
where \Delta = \na ...
in
polar coordinates
In mathematics, the polar coordinate system is a two-dimensional coordinate system in which each point on a plane is determined by a distance from a reference point and an angle from a reference direction. The reference point (analogous to t ...
.
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Euler–Bernoulli beam equation, a fourth-order ODE concerning the elasticity of structural beams.
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Euler's differential equation In mathematics, Euler's differential equation is a first order nonlinear ordinary differential equation, named after Leonhard Euler
Leonhard Euler ( , ; 15 April 170718 September 1783) was a Swiss mathematician, physicist, astronomer, geograp ...
, a first order nonlinear ordinary differential equation
Partial differential equations
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Euler conservation equations, a set of quasilinear first-order
hyperbolic equation
In mathematics, a hyperbolic partial differential equation of order n is a partial differential equation (PDE) that, roughly speaking, has a well-posed initial value problem for the first n-1 derivatives. More precisely, the Cauchy problem can ...
s used in
fluid dynamics
In physics and engineering, fluid dynamics is a subdiscipline of fluid mechanics that describes the flow of fluids—liquids and gases. It has several subdisciplines, including '' aerodynamics'' (the study of air and other gases in motion) ...
for
inviscid flow
In fluid dynamics, inviscid flow is the flow of an inviscid (zero-viscosity) fluid, also known as a superfluid. The Reynolds number of inviscid flow approaches infinity as the viscosity approaches zero. When viscous forces are neglected, such ...
s. In the (Froude) limit of no external field, they are
conservation equations.
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Euler–Tricomi equation In mathematics, the Euler–Tricomi equation is a linear partial differential equation useful in the study of transonic flow. It is named after mathematicians Leonhard Euler and Francesco Giacomo Tricomi.
:
u_+xu_=0. \,
It is elliptic in the ...
– a second-order PDE emerging from Euler conservation equations.
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Euler–Poisson–Darboux equation, a second-order PDE playing important role in solving the
wave equation
The (two-way) wave equation is a second-order linear partial differential equation for the description of waves or standing wave fields — as they occur in classical physics — such as mechanical waves (e.g. water waves, sound waves and s ...
.
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Euler–Lagrange equation
In the calculus of variations and classical mechanics, the Euler–Lagrange equations are a system of second-order ordinary differential equations whose solutions are stationary points of the given action functional. The equations were discovered ...
, a second-order PDE emerging from minimization problems in
calculus of variations
The calculus of variations (or Variational Calculus) is a field of mathematical analysis that uses variations, which are small changes in functions
and functionals, to find maxima and minima of functionals: mappings from a set of functions t ...
.
Formulas
Functions
*The
Euler function
In mathematics, the Euler function is given by
:\phi(q)=\prod_^\infty (1-q^k),\quad , q, A000203
On account of the identity \sum_ d = \sum_ \frac, this may also be written as
:\ln(\phi(q)) = -\sum_^\infty \frac \sum_ d.
Also if a,b\in\mathbb^ ...
, a
modular form
In mathematics, a modular form is a (complex) analytic function on the upper half-plane satisfying a certain kind of functional equation with respect to the group action of the modular group, and also satisfying a growth condition. The theory ...
that is a prototypical
q-series
In mathematical area of combinatorics, the ''q''-Pochhammer symbol, also called the ''q''-shifted factorial, is the product
(a;q)_n = \prod_^ (1-aq^k)=(1-a)(1-aq)(1-aq^2)\cdots(1-aq^),
with (a;q)_0 = 1.
It is a ''q''-analog of the Pochhammer sy ...
.
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Euler's totient function
In number theory, Euler's totient function counts the positive integers up to a given integer that are relatively prime to . It is written using the Greek letter phi as \varphi(n) or \phi(n), and may also be called Euler's phi function. In ...
(or Euler phi (φ) function) in
number theory
Number theory (or arithmetic or higher arithmetic in older usage) is a branch of pure mathematics devoted primarily to the study of the integers and integer-valued functions. German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777–1855) said, "Math ...
, counting the number of coprime integers less than an integer.
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Euler hypergeometric integral
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Euler–Riemann zeta function
Identities
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Euler's identity .
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Euler's four-square identity, which shows that the product of two sums of four squares can itself be expressed as the sum of four squares.
*''Euler's identity'' may also refer to the
pentagonal number theorem
In mathematics, the pentagonal number theorem, originally due to Euler, relates the product and series representations of the Euler function. It states that
:\prod_^\left(1-x^\right)=\sum_^\left(-1\right)^x^=1+\sum_^\infty(-1)^k\left(x^+x^\righ ...
.
Numbers
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Euler's number
The number , also known as Euler's number, is a mathematical constant approximately equal to 2.71828 that can be characterized in many ways. It is the base of the natural logarithms. It is the limit of as approaches infinity, an expressi ...
, , the base of the natural logarithm
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Euler's idoneal numbers In mathematics, Euler's idoneal numbers (also called suitable numbers or convenient numbers) are the positive integers ''D'' such that any integer expressible in only one way as ''x''2 ± ''Dy''2 (where ''x''2 is relatively prime to ''D ...
, a set of 65 or possibly 66 or 67 integers with special properties
*
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Eulerian numbers count certain types of permutations.
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Euler number (physics), the cavitation number in
fluid dynamics
In physics and engineering, fluid dynamics is a subdiscipline of fluid mechanics that describes the flow of fluids—liquids and gases. It has several subdisciplines, including '' aerodynamics'' (the study of air and other gases in motion) ...
.
*Euler number (algebraic topology) – now,
Euler characteristic
In mathematics, and more specifically in algebraic topology and polyhedral combinatorics, the Euler characteristic (or Euler number, or Euler–Poincaré characteristic) is a topological invariant, a number that describes a topological spac ...
, classically the number of vertices minus edges plus faces of a polyhedron.
*Euler number (3-manifold topology) – see
Seifert fiber space
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Lucky numbers of Euler Euler's "lucky" numbers are positive integers ''n'' such that for all integers ''k'' with , the polynomial produces a prime number.
When ''k'' is equal to ''n'', the value cannot be prime since is divisible by ''n''. Since the polynomial can be ...
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Euler's constant gamma (γ), also known as the Euler–Mascheroni constant
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Eulerian integers, more commonly called Eisenstein integers, the algebraic integers of form where is a complex cube root of 1.
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Euler–Gompertz constant
Theorems
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Laws
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Euler's first law, the
linear momentum
In Newtonian mechanics, momentum (more specifically linear momentum or translational momentum) is the product of the mass and velocity of an object. It is a vector quantity, possessing a magnitude and a direction. If is an object's mass an ...
of a body is equal to the product of the mass of the body and the velocity of its
center of mass.
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Euler's second law, the sum of the external
moments about a point is equal to the rate of change of
angular momentum
In physics, angular momentum (rarely, moment of momentum or rotational momentum) is the rotational analog of linear momentum. It is an important physical quantity because it is a conserved quantity—the total angular momentum of a closed sy ...
about that point.
Other things
Topics by field of study
Selected topics from above, grouped by subject, and additional topics from the fields of music and physical systems
Analysis: derivatives, integrals, and logarithms
Geometry and spatial arrangement
Graph theory
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Euler characteristic
In mathematics, and more specifically in algebraic topology and polyhedral combinatorics, the Euler characteristic (or Euler number, or Euler–Poincaré characteristic) is a topological invariant, a number that describes a topological spac ...
(formerly called Euler number) in
algebraic topology
Algebraic topology is a branch of mathematics that uses tools from abstract algebra to study topological spaces. The basic goal is to find algebraic invariants that classify topological spaces up to homeomorphism, though usually most classif ...
and
topological graph theory, and the corresponding Euler's formula
*Eulerian circuit, Euler cycle or
Eulerian path
In graph theory, an Eulerian trail (or Eulerian path) is a trail in a finite graph that visits every edge exactly once (allowing for revisiting vertices). Similarly, an Eulerian circuit or Eulerian cycle is an Eulerian trail that starts and ends ...
– a path through a graph that takes each edge once
**Eulerian graph has all its vertices spanned by an Eulerian path
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Euler class
In mathematics, specifically in algebraic topology, the Euler class is a characteristic class of oriented, real vector bundles. Like other characteristic classes, it measures how "twisted" the vector bundle is. In the case of the tangent bundle ...
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Euler diagram
An Euler diagram (, ) is a diagrammatic means of representing sets and their relationships. They are particularly useful for explaining complex hierarchies and overlapping definitions. They are similar to another set diagramming technique, Ve ...
– incorrectly, but more popularly, known as Venn diagrams, its subclass
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Euler tour technique
Music
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Euler–Fokker genus
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Euler's tritone
A septimal tritone is a tritone (about one half of an octave) that involves the factor seven. There are two that are inverses. The lesser septimal tritone (also Huygens' tritone) is the musical interval with ratio 7:5 (582.51 cents). The greater ...
Number theory
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Euler's criterion In number theory, Euler's criterion is a formula for determining whether an integer is a quadratic residue modulo a prime. Precisely,
Let ''p'' be an odd prime and ''a'' be an integer coprime to ''p''. Then
:
a^ \equiv
\begin
\;\;\,1\pmod& \tex ...
– quadratic residues modulo by primes
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Euler product In number theory, an Euler product is an expansion of a Dirichlet series into an infinite product indexed by prime numbers. The original such product was given for the sum of all positive integers raised to a certain power as proven by Leonhar ...
–
infinite product In mathematics, for a sequence of complex numbers ''a''1, ''a''2, ''a''3, ... the infinite product
:
\prod_^ a_n = a_1 a_2 a_3 \cdots
is defined to be the limit of the partial products ''a''1''a''2...''a'n'' as ''n'' increases without bound. ...
expansion, indexed by prime numbers of a
Dirichlet series
In mathematics, a Dirichlet series is any series of the form
\sum_^\infty \frac,
where ''s'' is complex, and a_n is a complex sequence. It is a special case of general Dirichlet series.
Dirichlet series play a variety of important roles in analyti ...
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Euler pseudoprime
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Euler–Jacobi pseudoprime
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Euler's totient function
In number theory, Euler's totient function counts the positive integers up to a given integer that are relatively prime to . It is written using the Greek letter phi as \varphi(n) or \phi(n), and may also be called Euler's phi function. In ...
(or Euler phi (φ) function) in
number theory
Number theory (or arithmetic or higher arithmetic in older usage) is a branch of pure mathematics devoted primarily to the study of the integers and integer-valued functions. German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777–1855) said, "Math ...
, counting the number of coprime integers less than an integer.
*
Euler system In mathematics, an Euler system is a collection of compatible elements of Galois cohomology groups indexed by fields. They were introduced by in his work on Heegner points on modular elliptic curves, which was motivated by his earlier paper an ...
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Euler's factorization method
Physical systems
Polynomials
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Euler's homogeneous function theorem
In mathematics, a homogeneous function is a function of several variables such that, if all its arguments are multiplied by a scalar, then its value is multiplied by some power of this scalar, called the degree of homogeneity, or simply the '' ...
, a theorem about
homogeneous polynomial
In mathematics, a homogeneous polynomial, sometimes called quantic in older texts, is a polynomial whose nonzero terms all have the same degree. For example, x^5 + 2 x^3 y^2 + 9 x y^4 is a homogeneous polynomial of degree 5, in two variables; ...
s.
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Euler polynomials
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Euler spline – splines composed of arcs using Euler polynomials
See also
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Contributions of Leonhard Euler to mathematics
The 18th-century Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler (1707–1783) is among the most prolific and successful mathematicians in the history of the field. His seminal work had a profound impact in numerous areas of mathematics and he is widely cr ...
Notes
{{reflist
Euler
Leonhard Euler ( , ; 15 April 170718 September 1783) was a Swiss mathematician, physicist, astronomer, geographer, logician and engineer who founded the studies of graph theory and topology and made pioneering and influential discoveries in ma ...
Leonhard Euler