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Ostrowski's Theorem
In number theory, Ostrowski's theorem, due to Alexander Ostrowski (1916), states that every non-trivial absolute value on the rational numbers \Q is equivalent to either the usual real absolute value or a -adic absolute value. Definitions Raising an absolute value to a power less than 1 always results in another absolute value. Two absolute values , \cdot, and , \cdot, _* on a field ''K'' are defined to be equivalent if there exists a real number such that : \forall x \in K: \quad , x, _* = , x, ^c. The trivial absolute value on any field ''K'' is defined to be : , x, _0 := \begin 0 & x = 0, \\ 1 & x \ne 0. \end The real absolute value on the rationals \Q is the standard absolute value on the reals, defined to be : , x, _\infty := \begin x & x \ge 0, \\ -x & x 1, \\ (2) \quad \forall n \in \N \qquad , n, _* &\leq 1. \end It suffices for us to consider the valuation of integers greater than one. For, if we find c \in \R_+ for which , n, _* = , n, ^c_ for all naturals g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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, "Mathematics is the queen of the sciences—and number theory is the queen of mathematics."German original: "Die Mathematik ist die Königin der Wissenschaften, und die Arithmetik ist die Königin der Mathematik." Number theorists study prime numbers as well as the properties of mathematical objects made out of integers (for example, rational numbers) or defined as generalizations of the integers (for example, algebraic integers). Integers can be considered either in themselves or as solutions to equations ( Diophantine geometry). Questions in number theory are often best understood through the study of analytical objects (for example, the Riemann zeta function) that encode properties of the integers, primes or other number-theoretic object ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Absolute Value (algebra)
In algebra, an absolute value (also called a valuation, magnitude, or norm, although " norm" usually refers to a specific kind of absolute value on a field) is a function which measures the "size" of elements in a field or integral domain. More precisely, if ''D'' is an integral domain, then an absolute value is any mapping , x, from ''D'' to the real numbers R satisfying: It follows from these axioms that , 1, = 1 and , -1, = 1. Furthermore, for every positive integer ''n'', :, ''n'', = , 1 + 1 + ... + 1 (''n'' times), = , −1 − 1 − ... − 1 (''n'' times), ≤ ''n''. The classical " absolute value" is one in which, for example, , 2, =2, but many other functions fulfill the requirements stated above, for instance the square root of the classical absolute value (but not the square thereof). An absolute value induces a metric (and thus a topology) by d(f,g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Valuation (algebra)
In algebra (in particular in algebraic geometry or algebraic number theory), a valuation is a function on a field that provides a measure of size or multiplicity of elements of the field. It generalizes to commutative algebra the notion of size inherent in consideration of the degree of a pole or multiplicity of a zero in complex analysis, the degree of divisibility of a number by a prime number in number theory, and the geometrical concept of contact between two algebraic or analytic varieties in algebraic geometry. A field with a valuation on it is called a valued field. Definition One starts with the following objects: *a field and its multiplicative group ''K''×, *an abelian totally ordered group . The ordering and group law on are extended to the set by the rules * for all ∈ , * for all ∈ . Then a valuation of is any map : which satisfies the following properties for all ''a'', ''b'' in ''K'': * if and only if , *, *, with equality if ''v''('' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Complex Numbers
In mathematics, a complex number is an element of a number system that extends the real numbers with a specific element denoted , called the imaginary unit and satisfying the equation i^= -1; every complex number can be expressed in the form a + bi, where and are real numbers. Because no real number satisfies the above equation, was called an imaginary number by René Descartes. For the complex number a+bi, is called the , and is called the . The set of complex numbers is denoted by either of the symbols \mathbb C or . Despite the historical nomenclature "imaginary", complex numbers are regarded in the mathematical sciences as just as "real" as the real numbers and are fundamental in many aspects of the scientific description of the natural world. Complex numbers allow solutions to all polynomial equations, even those that have no solutions in real numbers. More precisely, the fundamental theorem of algebra asserts that every non-constant polynomial equation with rea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Real Numbers
In mathematics, a real number is a number that can be used to measure a ''continuous'' one-dimensional quantity such as a distance, duration or temperature. Here, ''continuous'' means that values can have arbitrarily small variations. Every real number can be almost uniquely represented by an infinite decimal expansion. The real numbers are fundamental in calculus (and more generally in all mathematics), in particular by their role in the classical definitions of limits, continuity and derivatives. The set of real numbers is denoted or \mathbb and is sometimes called "the reals". The adjective ''real'' in this context was introduced in the 17th century by René Descartes to distinguish real numbers, associated with physical reality, from imaginary numbers (such as the square roots of ), which seemed like a theoretical contrivance unrelated to physical reality. The real numbers include the rational numbers, such as the integer and the fraction . The rest of the rea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
If And Only If
In logic and related fields such as mathematics and philosophy, "if and only if" (shortened as "iff") is a biconditional logical connective between statements, where either both statements are true or both are false. The connective is biconditional (a statement of material equivalence), and can be likened to the standard material conditional ("only if", equal to "if ... then") combined with its reverse ("if"); hence the name. The result is that the truth of either one of the connected statements requires the truth of the other (i.e. either both statements are true, or both are false), though it is controversial whether the connective thus defined is properly rendered by the English "if and only if"—with its pre-existing meaning. For example, ''P if and only if Q'' means that ''P'' is true whenever ''Q'' is true, and the only case in which ''P'' is true is if ''Q'' is also true, whereas in the case of ''P if Q'', there could be other scenarios where ''P'' is true and ''Q' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coprime
In mathematics, two integers and are coprime, relatively prime or mutually prime if the only positive integer that is a divisor of both of them is 1. Consequently, any prime number that divides does not divide , and vice versa. This is equivalent to their greatest common divisor (GCD) being 1. One says also '' is prime to '' or '' is coprime with ''. The numbers 8 and 9 are coprime, despite the fact that neither considered individually is a prime number, since 1 is their only common divisor. On the other hand, 6 and 9 are not coprime, because they are both divisible by 3. The numerator and denominator of a reduced fraction are coprime, by definition. Notation and testing Standard notations for relatively prime integers and are: and . In their 1989 textbook '' Concrete Mathematics'', Ronald Graham, Donald Knuth, and Oren Patashnik proposed that the notation a\perp b be used to indicate that and are relatively prime and that the term "prime" be used instead of coprime ... [...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 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 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 method of checking the primality of a given number n, called trial division, tests whether n is a multiple of any integer between 2 and \sqrt. Faster algorithms include the Miller–Rabin primality test, which is fast but has a small chance of error, and the AKS primality test, which alw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Triviality (mathematics)
In mathematics, the adjective trivial is often used to refer to a claim or a case which can be readily obtained from context, or an object which possesses a simple structure (e.g., groups, topological spaces). The noun triviality usually refers to a simple technical aspect of some proof or definition. The origin of the term in mathematical language comes from the medieval trivium curriculum, which distinguishes from the more difficult quadrivium curriculum. The opposite of trivial is nontrivial, which is commonly used to indicate that an example or a solution is not simple, or that a statement or a theorem is not easy to prove. The judgement of whether a situation under consideration is trivial or not depends on who considers it since the situation is obviously true for someone who has sufficient knowledge or experience of it while to someone who has never seen this, it may be even hard to be understood so not trivial at all. And there can be an argument about how quickly and easily ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 ... [...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 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 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 method of checking the primality of a given number n, called trial division, tests whether n is a multiple of any integer between 2 and \sqrt. Faster algorithms include the Miller–Rabin primality test, which is fast but has a small chance of error, and the AKS primality test, which alw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexander Ostrowski
Alexander Markowich Ostrowski ( uk, Олександр Маркович Островський; russian: Алекса́ндр Ма́ркович Остро́вский; 25 September 1893, in Kiev, Russian Empire – 20 November 1986, in Montagnola, Lugano, Switzerland) was a mathematician. His father Mark having been a merchant, Alexander Ostrowski attended the Kiev College of Commerce, not a high school, and thus had an insufficient qualification to be admitted to university. However, his talent did not remain undetected: Ostrowski's mentor, Dmitry Grave, wrote to Landau and Hensel for help. Subsequently, Ostrowski began to study mathematics at Marburg University under Hensel's supervision in 1912. During World War I he was interned, but thanks to the intervention of Hensel, the restrictions on his movements were eased somewhat, and he was allowed to use the university library. After the war ended Ostrowski moved to Göttingen where he wrote his doctoral dissertation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
