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Reuben Goodstein
Reuben Louis Goodstein (15 December 1912 – 8 March 1985) was an English mathematician with a strong interest in the philosophy and teaching of mathematics. Education Goodstein was educated at St Paul's School in London. He received his Master's degree from Magdalene College, Cambridge. After this, he worked at the University of Reading but ultimately spent most of his academic career at the University of Leicester. He earned his PhD from the University of London in 1946 while still working in Reading. Goodstein also studied under Ludwig Wittgenstein. Research He published many works on finitism and the reconstruction of analysis from a finitistic viewpoint, for example "Constructive Formalism. Essays on the foundations of mathematics." Goodstein's theorem was among the earliest examples of theorems found to be unprovable in Peano arithmetic but provable in stronger logical systems (such as second-order arithmetic). He also introduced a variant of the Ackermann function that ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major settlement for two millennia. The City of London, its ancient core and financial centre, was founded by the Romans as '' Londinium'' and retains its medieval boundaries.See also: Independent city § National capitals The City of Westminster, to the west of the City of London, has for centuries hosted the national government and parliament. Since the 19th century, the name "London" has also referred to the metropolis around this core, historically split between the counties of Middlesex, Essex, Surrey, Kent, and Hertfordshire, which largely comprises Greater London, governed by the Greater London Authority.The Greater London Authority consists of the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. The London Mayor is distinguished fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
St Paul's School (London)
(''By Faith and By Learning'') , established = , closed = , type = Independent school Public school , religion = Church of England , president = , head_label = High Master , head = Sally Anne Huang , r_head_label = Surmaster , r_head = Fran Clough , chair_label = Chairman of the Governors , chair = Johnny Robertson , founder = John Colet , specialist = , address = Lonsdale Road , city = Barnes , county = London , country = United Kingdom , postcode = SW13 9JT , local_authority = , urn = 102942 , ofsted = , staff = c. 110 , enrolment = c.950 , gender = Boys ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pentation
In mathematics, pentation (or hyper-5) is the next hyperoperation after tetration and before hexation. It is defined as iterated (repeated) tetration, just as tetration is iterated exponentiation. It is a binary operation defined with two numbers ''a'' and ''b'', where ''a'' is tetrated to itself ''b-1'' times. For instance, using hyperoperation notation for pentation and tetration, 2 means 2 to itself 2 times, or 2 2 ). This can then be reduced to 2 2^2)=2 =2^=2^=2^=65536. Etymology The word "pentation" was coined by Reuben Goodstein in 1947 from the roots penta- (five) and iteration. It is part of his general naming scheme for hyperoperations. Notation There is little consensus on the notation for pentation; as such, there are many different ways to write the operation. However, some are more used than others, and some have clear advantages or disadvantages compared to others. *Pentation can be written as a hyperoperation as a . In this format, a may be interpreted as the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tetration
In mathematics, tetration (or hyper-4) is an operation based on iterated, or repeated, exponentiation. There is no standard notation for tetration, though \uparrow \uparrow and the left-exponent ''xb'' are common. Under the definition as repeated exponentiation, means , where ' copies of ' are iterated via exponentiation, right-to-left, i.e. the application of exponentiation n-1 times. ' is called the "height" of the function, while ' is called the "base," analogous to exponentiation. It would be read as "the th tetration of ". It is the next hyperoperation after exponentiation, but before pentation. The word was coined by Reuben Louis Goodstein from tetra- (four) and iteration. Tetration is also defined recursively as : := \begin 1 &\textn=0, \\ a^ &\textn>0, \end allowing for attempts to extend tetration to non-natural numbers such as real and complex numbers. The two inverses of tetration are called super-root and super-logarithm, analogous to the nth root and the log ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hyperoperation
In mathematics, the hyperoperation sequence is an infinite sequence of arithmetic operations (called ''hyperoperations'' in this context) that starts with a unary operation (the successor function with ''n'' = 0). The sequence continues with the binary operations of addition (''n'' = 1), multiplication (''n'' = 2), and exponentiation (''n'' = 3). After that, the sequence proceeds with further binary operations extending beyond exponentiation, using right-associativity. For the operations beyond exponentiation, the ''n''th member of this sequence is named by Reuben Goodstein after the Greek prefix of ''n'' suffixed with ''-ation'' (such as tetration (''n'' = 4), pentation (''n'' = 5), hexation (''n'' = 6), etc.) and can be written as using ''n'' − 2 arrows in Knuth's up-arrow notation. Each hyperoperation may be understood recursively in terms of the previous one by: :a = \underbrace_,\quad n \ge 2 It may also be defined according to the recursion rule part of the de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ackermann Function
In computability theory, the Ackermann function, named after Wilhelm Ackermann, is one of the simplest and earliest-discovered examples of a total computable function that is not primitive recursive. All primitive recursive functions are total and computable, but the Ackermann function illustrates that not all total computable functions are primitive recursive. After Ackermann's publication of his function (which had three non-negative integer arguments), many authors modified it to suit various purposes, so that today "the Ackermann function" may refer to any of numerous variants of the original function. One common version, the two-argument Ackermann–Péter function is defined as follows for nonnegative integers ''m'' and ''n'': : \begin \operatorname(0, n) & = & n + 1 \\ \operatorname(m+1, 0) & = & \operatorname(m, 1) \\ \operatorname(m+1, n+1) & = & \operatorname(m, \operatorname(m+1, n)) \end Its value grows rapidly, even for small inputs. For example, is an integer o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Second-order Arithmetic
In mathematical logic, second-order arithmetic is a collection of axiomatic systems that formalize the natural numbers and their subsets. It is an alternative to axiomatic set theory as a foundation for much, but not all, of mathematics. A precursor to second-order arithmetic that involves third-order parameters was introduced by David Hilbert and Paul Bernays in their book ''Grundlagen der Mathematik''. The standard axiomatization of second-order arithmetic is denoted by Z2. Second-order arithmetic includes, but is significantly stronger than, its first-order counterpart Peano arithmetic. Unlike Peano arithmetic, second-order arithmetic allows quantification over sets of natural numbers as well as numbers themselves. Because real numbers can be represented as (infinite) sets of natural numbers in well-known ways, and because second-order arithmetic allows quantification over such sets, it is possible to formalize the real numbers in second-order arithmetic. For this reason, secon ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Formal System
A formal system is an abstract structure used for inferring theorems from axioms according to a set of rules. These rules, which are used for carrying out the inference of theorems from axioms, are the logical calculus of the formal system. A formal system is essentially an "axiomatic system". In 1921, David Hilbert proposed to use such a system as the foundation for the knowledge in mathematics. A formal system may represent a well-defined abstraction, system of abstract thought. The term ''formalism'' is sometimes a rough synonym for ''formal system'', but it also refers to a given style of notation, for example, Paul Dirac's bra–ket notation. Background Each formal system is described by primitive Symbol (formal), symbols (which collectively form an Alphabet (computer science), alphabet) to finitely construct a formal language from a set of axioms through inferential rules of formation. The system thus consists of valid formulas built up through finite combinations of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Peano Arithmetic
In mathematical logic, the Peano axioms, also known as the Dedekind–Peano axioms or the Peano postulates, are axioms for the natural numbers presented by the 19th century Italian mathematician Giuseppe Peano. These axioms have been used nearly unchanged in a number of metamathematical investigations, including research into fundamental questions of whether number theory is consistent and complete. The need to formalize arithmetic was not well appreciated until the work of Hermann Grassmann, who showed in the 1860s that many facts in arithmetic could be derived from more basic facts about the successor operation and induction. In 1881, Charles Sanders Peirce provided an axiomatization of natural-number arithmetic. In 1888, Richard Dedekind proposed another axiomatization of natural-number arithmetic, and in 1889, Peano published a simplified version of them as a collection of axioms in his book, ''The principles of arithmetic presented by a new method'' ( la, Arithmetice ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mathematical Analysis
Analysis is the branch of mathematics dealing with continuous functions, limit (mathematics), limits, and related theories, such as Derivative, differentiation, Integral, integration, measure (mathematics), measure, infinite sequences, series (mathematics), series, and analytic functions. These theories are usually studied in the context of Real number, real and Complex number, complex numbers and Function (mathematics), functions. Analysis evolved from calculus, which involves the elementary concepts and techniques of analysis. Analysis may be distinguished from geometry; however, it can be applied to any Space (mathematics), space of mathematical objects that has a definition of nearness (a topological space) or specific distances between objects (a metric space). History Ancient Mathematical analysis formally developed in the 17th century during the Scientific Revolution, but many of its ideas can be traced back to earlier mathematicians. Early results in analysis were i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Finitism
Finitism is a philosophy of mathematics that accepts the existence only of finite mathematical objects. It is best understood in comparison to the mainstream philosophy of mathematics where infinite mathematical objects (e.g., infinite sets) are accepted as legitimate. Main idea The main idea of finitistic mathematics is not accepting the existence of infinite objects such as infinite sets. While all natural numbers are accepted as existing, the ''set'' of all natural numbers is not considered to exist as a mathematical object. Therefore quantification over infinite domains is not considered meaningful. The mathematical theory often associated with finitism is Thoralf Skolem's primitive recursive arithmetic. History The introduction of infinite mathematical objects occurred a few centuries ago when the use of infinite objects was already a controversial topic among mathematicians. The issue entered a new phase when Georg Cantor in 1874 introduced what is now called naive set t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Proceedings Of The London Mathematical Society
The London Mathematical Society (LMS) is one of the United Kingdom's learned societies for mathematics (the others being the Royal Statistical Society (RSS), the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications (IMA), the Edinburgh Mathematical Society and the Operational Research Society (ORS). History The Society was established on 16 January 1865, the first president being Augustus De Morgan. The earliest meetings were held in University College, but the Society soon moved into Burlington House, Piccadilly. The initial activities of the Society included talks and publication of a journal. The LMS was used as a model for the establishment of the American Mathematical Society in 1888. Mary Cartwright was the first woman to be President of the LMS (in 1961–62). The Society was granted a royal charter in 1965, a century after its foundation. In 1998 the Society moved from rooms in Burlington House into De Morgan House (named after the society's first president), at 57†... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
