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Jacques Touchard
Jacques Touchard (1885–1968) was a French mathematician. In 1953, he proved that an odd perfect number must be of the form 12''k'' + 1 or 36''k'' + 9. In combinatorics and probability theory, he introduced the Touchard polynomials. He is also known for his solution to the ménage problem of counting seating arrangements in which men and women alternate and are not seated next to their spouses. Touchard's Catalan identity The following algebraic identity involving the Catalan numbers : C_k =,\quad k \ge 0 is apparently due to Touchard (according to Richard P. Stanley, who mentions it in his panorama articleExercises on Catalan and Related Numbers giving an overwhelming plenitude of different definitions for the Catalan numbers). For ''n'' ≥ 0 one has : C_ =\sum_ 2^ C_k. \, Using the generating function In mathematics, a generating function is a way of encoding an infinite sequence of numbers () by treating them as the coefficie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
French People
The French people (french: Français) are an ethnic group and nation primarily located in Western Europe that share a common French culture, history, and language, identified with the country of France. The French people, especially the native speakers of langues d'oïl from northern and central France, are primarily the descendants of Gauls (including the Belgae) and Romans (or Gallo-Romans, western European Celtic and Italic peoples), as well as Germanic peoples such as the Franks, the Visigoths, the Suebi and the Burgundians who settled in Gaul from east of the Rhine after the fall of the Roman Empire, as well as various later waves of lower-level irregular migration that have continued to the present day. The Norse also settled in Normandy in the 10th century and contributed significantly to the ancestry of the Normans. Furthermore, regional ethnic minorities also exist within France that have distinct lineages, languages and cultures such as Bretons in Brittany, Occi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mathematician
A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, structure, space, models, and change. History One of the earliest known mathematicians were Thales of Miletus (c. 624–c.546 BC); he has been hailed as the first true mathematician and the first known individual to whom a mathematical discovery has been attributed. He is credited with the first use of deductive reasoning applied to geometry, by deriving four corollaries to Thales' Theorem. The number of known mathematicians grew when Pythagoras of Samos (c. 582–c. 507 BC) established the Pythagorean School, whose doctrine it was that mathematics ruled the universe and whose motto was "All is number". It was the Pythagoreans who coined the term "mathematics", and with whom the study of mathematics for its own sake begins. The first woman mathematician recorded by history was Hypati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Perfect Number
In number theory, a perfect number is a positive integer that is equal to the sum of its positive divisors, excluding the number itself. For instance, 6 has divisors 1, 2 and 3 (excluding itself), and 1 + 2 + 3 = 6, so 6 is a perfect number. The sum of divisors of a number, excluding the number itself, is called its aliquot sum, so a perfect number is one that is equal to its aliquot sum. Equivalently, a perfect number is a number that is half the sum of all of its positive divisors including itself; in symbols, \sigma_1(n)=2n where \sigma_1 is the sum-of-divisors function. For instance, 28 is perfect as 1 + 2 + 4 + 7 + 14 = 28. This definition is ancient, appearing as early as Euclid's ''Elements'' (VII.22) where it is called (''perfect'', ''ideal'', or ''complete number''). Euclid also proved a formation rule (IX.36) whereby q(q+1)/2 is an even perfect number whenever q is a prime of the form 2^p-1 for positive integer p—what is now called a Mersenne prime. Two millennia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Combinatorics
Combinatorics is an area of mathematics primarily concerned with counting, both as a means and an end in obtaining results, and certain properties of finite structures. It is closely related to many other areas of mathematics and has many applications ranging from logic to statistical physics and from evolutionary biology to computer science. Combinatorics is well known for the breadth of the problems it tackles. Combinatorial problems arise in many areas of pure mathematics, notably in algebra, probability theory, topology, and geometry, as well as in its many application areas. Many combinatorial questions have historically been considered in isolation, giving an ''ad hoc'' solution to a problem arising in some mathematical context. In the later twentieth century, however, powerful and general theoretical methods were developed, making combinatorics into an independent branch of mathematics in its own right. One of the oldest and most accessible parts of combinatorics is gra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Probability Theory
Probability theory is the branch of mathematics concerned with probability. Although there are several different probability interpretations, probability theory treats the concept in a rigorous mathematical manner by expressing it through a set of axioms. Typically these axioms formalise probability in terms of a probability space, which assigns a measure taking values between 0 and 1, termed the probability measure, to a set of outcomes called the sample space. Any specified subset of the sample space is called an event. Central subjects in probability theory include discrete and continuous random variables, probability distributions, and stochastic processes (which provide mathematical abstractions of non-deterministic or uncertain processes or measured quantities that may either be single occurrences or evolve over time in a random fashion). Although it is not possible to perfectly predict random events, much can be said about their behavior. Two major results in probability ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Touchard Polynomials
The Touchard polynomials, studied by , also called the exponential polynomials or Bell polynomials, comprise a polynomial sequence of binomial type defined by :T_n(x)=\sum_^n S(n,k)x^k=\sum_^n \left\x^k, where S(n,k)=\left\is a Stirling number of the second kind, i.e., the number of partitions of a set of size ''n'' into ''k'' disjoint non-empty subsets. Properties Basic properties The value at 1 of the ''n''th Touchard polynomial is the ''n''th Bell number, i.e., the number of partitions of a set of size ''n'': :T_n(1)=B_n. If ''X'' is a random variable with a Poisson distribution with expected value λ, then its ''n''th moment is E(''X''''n'') = ''T''''n''(λ), leading to the definition: :T_(x)=e^\sum_^\infty \frac . Using this fact one can quickly prove that this polynomial sequence is of binomial type, i.e., it satisfies the sequence of identities: :T_n(\lambda+\mu)=\sum_^n T_k(\lambda) T_(\mu). The Touchard polynomials constitute the only polynomial sequence o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ménage Problem
In combinatorial mathematics, the ménage problem or problème des ménages asks for the number of different ways in which it is possible to seat a set of male-female couples at a round dining table so that men and women alternate and nobody sits next to his or her partner. This problem was formulated in 1891 by Édouard Lucas and independently, a few years earlier, by Peter Guthrie Tait in connection with knot theory. For a number of couples equal to 3, 4, 5, ... the number of seating arrangements is :12, 96, 3120, 115200, 5836320, 382072320, 31488549120, ... . Mathematicians have developed formulas and recurrence equations for computing these numbers and related sequences of numbers. Along with their applications to etiquette and knot theory, these numbers also have a graph theoretic interpretation: they count the numbers of matchings and Hamiltonian cycles in certain families of graphs. Touchard's formula Let ''M''''n'' denote the number of seating arrangements for ''n'' c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Catalan Number
In combinatorial mathematics, the Catalan numbers are a sequence of natural numbers that occur in various counting problems, often involving recursively defined objects. They are named after the French-Belgian mathematician Eugène Charles Catalan (1814–1894). The ''n''th Catalan number can be expressed directly in terms of binomial coefficients by :C_n = \frac = \frac = \prod\limits_^\frac \qquad\textn\ge 0. The first Catalan numbers for ''n'' = 0, 1, 2, 3, ... are :1, 1, 2, 5, 14, 42, 132, 429, 1430, 4862, 16796, 58786, ... . Properties An alternative expression for ''C''''n'' is :C_n = - for n\ge 0, which is equivalent to the expression given above because \tbinom=\tfrac\tbinomn. This expression shows that ''C''''n'' is an integer, which is not immediately obvious from the first formula given. This expression forms the basis for a proof of the correctness of the formula. The Catalan numbers satisfy the recurrence relations :C_0 = 1 \quad \text \quad C_=\sum_^C_i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Richard P
Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Frankish language, Old Frankish and is a Compound (linguistics), compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'strong in rule'. Nicknames include "Richie", "Dick (nickname), Dick", "Dickon", "Dickie (name), Dickie", "Rich (given name), Rich", "Rick (given name), Rick", "Rico (name), Rico", "Ricky (given name), Ricky", and more. Richard is a common English, German and French male name. It's also used in many more languages, particularly Germanic, such as Norwegian, Danish, Swedish, Icelandic, and Dutch, as well as other languages including Irish, Scottish, Welsh and Finnish. Richard is cognate with variants of the name in other European languages, such as the Swedish "Rickard", the Catalan "Ricard" and the Italian "Riccardo", among others (see comprehensive variant list below). People ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Generating Function
In mathematics, a generating function is a way of encoding an infinite sequence of numbers () by treating them as the coefficients of a formal power series. This series is called the generating function of the sequence. Unlike an ordinary series, the ''formal'' power series is not required to converge: in fact, the generating function is not actually regarded as a function, and the "variable" remains an indeterminate. Generating functions were first introduced by Abraham de Moivre in 1730, in order to solve the general linear recurrence problem. One can generalize to formal power series in more than one indeterminate, to encode information about infinite multi-dimensional arrays of numbers. There are various types of generating functions, including ordinary generating functions, exponential generating functions, Lambert series, Bell series, and Dirichlet series; definitions and examples are given below. Every sequence in principle has a generating function of each type (except ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Series (mathematics)
In mathematics, a series is, roughly speaking, a description of the operation of adding infinitely many quantities, one after the other, to a given starting quantity. The study of series is a major part of calculus and its generalization, mathematical analysis. Series are used in most areas of mathematics, even for studying finite structures (such as in combinatorics) through generating functions. In addition to their ubiquity in mathematics, infinite series are also widely used in other quantitative disciplines such as physics, computer science, statistics and finance. For a long time, the idea that such a potentially infinite summation could produce a finite result was considered paradoxical. This paradox was resolved using the concept of a limit during the 17th century. Zeno's paradox of Achilles and the tortoise illustrates this counterintuitive property of infinite sums: Achilles runs after a tortoise, but when he reaches the position of the tortoise at the beginning of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Functional Equation
In mathematics, a functional equation is, in the broadest meaning, an equation in which one or several functions appear as unknowns. So, differential equations and integral equations are functional equations. However, a more restricted meaning is often used, where a ''functional equation'' is an equation that relates several values of the same function. For example, the logarithm functions are essentially characterized by the ''logarithmic functional equation'' \log(xy)=\log(x) + \log(y). If the domain of the unknown function is supposed to be the natural numbers, the function is generally viewed as a sequence, and, in this case, a functional equation (in the narrower meaning) is called a recurrence relation. Thus the term ''functional equation'' is used mainly for real functions and complex functions. Moreover a smoothness condition is often assumed for the solutions, since without such a condition, most functional equations have very irregular solutions. For example, the ga ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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