Cantor's Diagonal Argument
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Cantor's Diagonal Argument
In set theory, Cantor's diagonal argument, also called the diagonalisation argument, the diagonal slash argument, the anti-diagonal argument, the diagonal method, and Cantor's diagonalization proof, was published in 1891 by Georg Cantor as a mathematical proof that there are infinite sets which cannot be put into one-to-one correspondence with the infinite set of natural numbers. English translation: Such sets are now known as uncountable sets, and the size of infinite sets is now treated by the theory of cardinal numbers which Cantor began. The diagonal argument was not Cantor's first proof of the uncountability of the real numbers, which appeared in 1874. However, it demonstrates a general technique that has since been used in a wide range of proofs, including the first of Gödel's incompleteness theorems and Turing's answer to the ''Entscheidungsproblem''. Diagonalization arguments are often also the source of contradictions like Russell's paradox and Richard's paradox. ...
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Diagonalization (other)
In logic and mathematics, diagonalization may refer to: * Matrix diagonalization, a construction of a diagonal matrix (with nonzero entries only on the main diagonal) that is similar to a given matrix * Diagonal argument (other), various closely related proof techniques, including: ** Cantor's diagonal argument, used to prove that the set of real numbers is not countable **Diagonal lemma, used to create self-referential sentences in formal logic * Table diagonalization, a form of data reduction Data reduction is the transformation of numerical or alphabetical digital information derived empirically or experimentally into a corrected, ordered, and simplified form. The purpose of data reduction can be two-fold: reduce the number of data rec ...
used to make interpretation of tables and charts easier. {{mathematical disambiguation ...
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Russell's Paradox
In mathematical logic, Russell's paradox (also known as Russell's antinomy) is a set-theoretic paradox discovered by the British philosopher and mathematician Bertrand Russell in 1901. Russell's paradox shows that every set theory that contains an unrestricted comprehension principle leads to contradictions. The paradox had already been discovered independently in 1899 by the German mathematician Ernst Zermelo. However, Zermelo did not publish the idea, which remained known only to David Hilbert, Edmund Husserl, and other academics at the University of Göttingen. At the end of the 1890s, Georg Cantor – considered the founder of modern set theory – had already realized that his theory would lead to a contradiction, which he told Hilbert and Richard Dedekind by letter. According to the unrestricted comprehension principle, for any sufficiently well-defined property, there is the set of all and only the objects that have that property. Let ''R'' be the set of all sets that are ...
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Radix
In a positional numeral system, the radix or base is the number of unique digits, including the digit zero, used to represent numbers. For example, for the decimal/denary system (the most common system in use today) the radix (base number) is ten, because it uses the ten digits from 0 through 9. In any standard positional numeral system, a number is conventionally written as with ''x'' as the string of digits and ''y'' as its base, although for base ten the subscript is usually assumed (and omitted, together with the pair of parentheses), as it is the most common way to express value. For example, (the decimal system is implied in the latter) and represents the number one hundred, while (100)2 (in the binary system with base 2) represents the number four. Etymology ''Radix'' is a Latin word for "root". ''Root'' can be considered a synonym for ''base,'' in the arithmetical sense. In numeral systems In the system with radix 13, for example, a string of digits such as 398 ...
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Decimal Fractions
The decimal numeral system (also called the base-ten positional numeral system and denary or decanary) is the standard system for denoting integer and non-integer numbers. It is the extension to non-integer numbers of the Hindu–Arabic numeral system. The way of denoting numbers in the decimal system is often referred to as ''decimal notation''. A ''decimal numeral'' (also often just ''decimal'' or, less correctly, ''decimal number''), refers generally to the notation of a number in the decimal numeral system. Decimals may sometimes be identified by a decimal separator (usually "." or "," as in or ). ''Decimal'' may also refer specifically to the digits after the decimal separator, such as in " is the approximation of to ''two decimals''". Zero-digits after a decimal separator serve the purpose of signifying the precision of a value. The numbers that may be represented in the decimal system are the #Decimal fractions, decimal fractions. That is, fraction (mathematics), fract ...
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Cardinality Of The Continuum
In set theory, the cardinality of the continuum is the cardinality or "size" of the set of real numbers \mathbb R, sometimes called the continuum. It is an infinite cardinal number and is denoted by \mathfrak c (lowercase fraktur "c") or , \mathbb R, . The real numbers \mathbb R are more numerous than the natural numbers \mathbb N. Moreover, \mathbb R has the same number of elements as the power set of \mathbb N. Symbolically, if the cardinality of \mathbb N is denoted as \aleph_0, the cardinality of the continuum is This was proven by Georg Cantor in his uncountability proof of 1874, part of his groundbreaking study of different infinities. The inequality was later stated more simply in his diagonal argument in 1891. Cantor defined cardinality in terms of bijective functions: two sets have the same cardinality if, and only if, there exists a bijective function between them. Between any two real numbers ''a''  \mathfrak c . Alternative explanation for 𝔠 = 2ℵ0 ...
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Image (mathematics)
In mathematics, the image of a function is the set of all output values it may produce. More generally, evaluating a given function f at each element of a given subset A of its domain produces a set, called the "image of A under (or through) f". Similarly, the inverse image (or preimage) of a given subset B of the codomain of f, is the set of all elements of the domain that map to the members of B. Image and inverse image may also be defined for general binary relations, not just functions. Definition The word "image" is used in three related ways. In these definitions, f : X \to Y is a function from the set X to the set Y. Image of an element If x is a member of X, then the image of x under f, denoted f(x), is the value of f when applied to x. f(x) is alternatively known as the output of f for argument x. Given y, the function f is said to "" or "" if there exists some x in the function's domain such that f(x) = y. Similarly, given a set S, f is said to "" if there exi ...
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Injective Function
In mathematics, an injective function (also known as injection, or one-to-one function) is a function that maps distinct elements of its domain to distinct elements; that is, implies . (Equivalently, implies in the equivalent contrapositive statement.) In other words, every element of the function's codomain is the image of one element of its domain. The term must not be confused with that refers to bijective functions, which are functions such that each element in the codomain is an image of exactly one element in the domain. A homomorphism between algebraic structures is a function that is compatible with the operations of the structures. For all common algebraic structures, and, in particular for vector spaces, an is also called a . However, in the more general context of category theory, the definition of a monomorphism differs from that of an injective homomorphism. This is thus a theorem that they are equivalent for algebraic structures; see for more details. ...
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Countable Set
In mathematics, a set is countable if either it is finite or it can be made in one to one correspondence with the set of natural numbers. Equivalently, a set is ''countable'' if there exists an injective function from it into the natural numbers; this means that each element in the set may be associated to a unique natural number, or that the elements of the set can be counted one at a time, although the counting may never finish due to an infinite number of elements. In more technical terms, assuming the axiom of countable choice, a set is ''countable'' if its cardinality (its number of elements) is not greater than that of the natural numbers. A countable set that is not finite is said countably infinite. The concept is attributed to Georg Cantor, who proved the existence of uncountable sets, that is, sets that are not countable; for example the set of the real numbers. A note on terminology Although the terms "countable" and "countably infinite" as defined here are quite co ...
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Proof By Contradiction
In logic and mathematics, 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. Proof by contradiction is also known as indirect proof, proof by assuming the opposite, and ''reductio ad impossibile''. It is an example of the weaker logical refutation ''reductio ad absurdum''. 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 contradictory assertions, ''Q'' and ''¬Q'', and appealing to the Law of noncontradiction. #Since assuming ''P'' to be false leads to a contradiction, it is concluded that ''P'' is in fact true. An important special case is the existence proof by contradiction: in order to demonstrate the existence of an ...
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Ones' Complement
The ones' complement of a binary number is the value obtained by inverting all the bits in the binary representation of the number (swapping 0s and 1s). The name "ones' complement" (''note this is possessive of the plural "ones", not of a singular "one"'') refers to the fact that such an inverted value, if added to the original, would always produce an 'all ones' number (the term "complement" refers to such pairs of mutually additive inverse numbers, here in respect to a non-0 base number). This mathematical operation is primarily of interest in computer science, where it has varying effects depending on how a specific computer represents numbers. A ones' complement system or ones' complement arithmetic is a system in which negative numbers are represented by the inverse of the binary representations of their corresponding positive numbers. In such a system, a number is negated (converted from positive to negative or vice versa) by computing its ones' complement. An N-bit ones ...
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Lemma (mathematics)
In mathematics, informal logic and argument mapping, a lemma (plural lemmas or lemmata) is a generally minor, proven proposition which is used as a stepping stone to a larger result. For that reason, it is also known as a "helping theorem" or an "auxiliary theorem". In many cases, a lemma derives its importance from the theorem it aims to prove; however, a lemma can also turn out to be more important than originally thought. The word "lemma" derives from the Ancient Greek ("anything which is received", such as a gift, profit, or a bribe). Comparison with theorem There is no formal distinction between a lemma and a theorem, only one of intention (see Theorem terminology). However, a lemma can be considered a minor result whose sole purpose is to help prove a more substantial theorem – a step in the direction of proof. Well-known lemmas A good stepping stone can lead to many others. Some powerful results in mathematics are known as lemmas, first named for their originally min ...
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Constructive Proof
In mathematics, a constructive proof is a method of mathematical proof, proof that demonstrates the existence of a mathematical object by creating or providing a method for creating the object. This is in contrast to a non-constructive proof (also known as an existence proof or existence theorem, ''pure existence theorem''), which proves the existence of a particular kind of object without providing an example. For avoiding confusion with the stronger concept that follows, such a constructive proof is sometimes called an effective proof. A constructive proof may also refer to the stronger concept of a proof that is valid in constructive mathematics. Constructivism (mathematics), Constructivism is a mathematical philosophy that rejects all proof methods that involve the existence of objects that are not explicitly built. This excludes, in particular, the use of the law of the excluded middle, the axiom of infinity, and the axiom of choice, and induces a different meaning for some ter ...
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