|
Proof That E Is Irrational
The number ''e'' was introduced by Jacob Bernoulli in 1683. More than half a century later, Euler, who had been a student of Jacob's younger brother Johann, proved that ''e'' is irrational; that is, that it cannot be expressed as the quotient of two integers. Euler's proof Euler wrote the first proof of the fact that ''e'' is irrational in 1737 (but the text was only published seven years later). He computed the representation of ''e'' as a simple continued fraction, which is :e = ; 1, 2, 1, 1, 4, 1, 1, 6, 1, 1, 8, 1, 1, \ldots, 2n, 1, 1, \ldots Since this continued fraction is infinite and every rational number has a terminating continued fraction, ''e'' is irrational. A short proof of the previous equality is known. Since the simple continued fraction of ''e'' is not periodic, this also proves that ''e'' is not a root of a quadratic polynomial with rational coefficients; in particular, ''e''2 is irrational. Fourier's proof The most well-known proof is Joseph Fourier's p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
E (mathematical Constant)
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 expression that arises in the study of compound interest. It can also be calculated as the sum of the infinite series e = \sum\limits_^ \frac = 1 + \frac + \frac + \frac + \cdots. It is also the unique positive number such that the graph of the function has a slope of 1 at . The (natural) exponential function is the unique function that equals its own derivative and satisfies the equation ; hence one can also define as . The natural logarithm, or logarithm to base , is the inverse function to the natural exponential function. The natural logarithm of a number can be defined directly as the area under the curve between and , in which case is the value of for which this area equals one (see image). There are various other characteriz ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joseph Liouville
Joseph Liouville (; ; 24 March 1809 – 8 September 1882) was a French mathematician and engineer. Life and work He was born in Saint-Omer in France on 24 March 1809. His parents were Claude-Joseph Liouville (an army officer) and Thérèse Liouville (née Balland). Liouville gained admission into the École Polytechnique in 1825 and graduated in 1827. Just like Augustin-Louis Cauchy before him, Liouville studied engineering at École des Ponts et Chaussées after graduating from the Polytechnique, but opted instead for a career in mathematics. After some years as an assistant at various institutions including the École Centrale Paris, he was appointed as professor at the École Polytechnique in 1838. He obtained a chair in mathematics at the Collège de France in 1850 and a chair in mechanics at the Faculté des Sciences in 1857. Besides his academic achievements, he was very talented in organisational matters. Liouville founded the ''Journal de Mathématiques Pures et Ap ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Diophantine Approximation
In number theory, the study of Diophantine approximation deals with the approximation of real numbers by rational numbers. It is named after Diophantus of Alexandria. The first problem was to know how well a real number can be approximated by rational numbers. For this problem, a rational number ''a''/''b'' is a "good" approximation of a real number ''α'' if the absolute value of the difference between ''a''/''b'' and ''α'' may not decrease if ''a''/''b'' is replaced by another rational number with a smaller denominator. This problem was solved during the 18th century by means of continued fractions. Knowing the "best" approximations of a given number, the main problem of the field is to find sharp upper and lower bounds of the above difference, expressed as a function of the denominator. It appears that these bounds depend on the nature of the real numbers to be approximated: the lower bound for the approximation of a rational number by another rational number is larger than ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Proof That π Is Irrational
In the 1760s, Johann Heinrich Lambert was the first to prove that the number is irrational, meaning it cannot be expressed as a fraction a/b, where a and b are both integers. In the 19th century, Charles Hermite found a proof that requires no prerequisite knowledge beyond basic calculus. Three simplifications of Hermite's proof are due to Mary Cartwright, Ivan Niven, and Nicolas Bourbaki. Another proof, which is a simplification of Lambert's proof, is due to Miklós Laczkovich. Many of these are proofs by contradiction. In 1882, Ferdinand von Lindemann proved that is not just irrational, but transcendental as well. Lambert's proof In 1761, Lambert proved that is irrational by first showing that this continued fraction expansion holds: :\tan(x) = \cfrac. Then Lambert proved that if ''x'' is non-zero and rational, then this expression must be irrational. Since tan(/4) = 1, it follows that /4 is irrational, and thus is also irrational. A simplification of Lambert' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lindemann–Weierstrass Theorem
In transcendental number theory, the Lindemann–Weierstrass theorem is a result that is very useful in establishing the transcendence of numbers. It states the following: In other words, the extension field \mathbb(e^, \dots, e^) has transcendence degree over \mathbb. An equivalent formulation , is the following: This equivalence transforms a linear relation over the algebraic numbers into an algebraic relation over \mathbb by using the fact that a symmetric polynomial whose arguments are all conjugates of one another gives a rational number. The theorem is named for Ferdinand von Lindemann and Karl Weierstrass. Lindemann proved in 1882 that is transcendental for every non-zero algebraic number thereby establishing that is transcendental (see below). Weierstrass proved the above more general statement in 1885. The theorem, along with the Gelfond–Schneider theorem, is extended by Baker's theorem, and all of these would be further generalized by Schanuel's conjecture. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Transcendental Number
In mathematics, a transcendental number is a number that is not algebraic—that is, not the root of a non-zero polynomial of finite degree with rational coefficients. The best known transcendental numbers are and . Though only a few classes of transcendental numbers are known—partly because it can be extremely difficult to show that a given number is transcendental—transcendental numbers are not rare. Indeed, almost all real and complex numbers are transcendental, since the algebraic numbers comprise a countable set, while the set of real numbers and the set of complex numbers are both uncountable sets, and therefore larger than any countable set. All transcendental real numbers (also known as real transcendental numbers or transcendental irrational numbers) are irrational numbers, since all rational numbers are algebraic. The converse is not true: not all irrational numbers are transcendental. Hence, the set of real numbers consists of non-overlapping rational, algebrai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Characterizations Of The Exponential Function
In mathematics, the exponential function can be characterized in many ways. The following characterizations (definitions) are most common. This article discusses why each characterization makes sense, and why the characterizations are independent of and equivalent to each other. As a special case of these considerations, it will be demonstrated that the three most common definitions given for the mathematical constant ''e'' are equivalent to each other. Characterizations The six most common definitions of the exponential function for real are: # Define by the limit e^x = \lim_ \left(1+\frac x n \right)^n. # Define as the value of the infinite series e^x = \sum_^\infty = 1 + x + \frac + \frac + \frac + \cdots (Here denotes the factorial of . One proof that is irrational uses a special case of this formula.) # Define to be the unique number such that \int_1^y \frac = x. This is as the inverse of the natural logarithm function, which is defined by this integral. # Define ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Algebraic Number
An algebraic number is a number that is a root of a non-zero polynomial in one variable with integer (or, equivalently, rational) coefficients. For example, the golden ratio, (1 + \sqrt)/2, is an algebraic number, because it is a root of the polynomial . That is, it is a value for x for which the polynomial evaluates to zero. As another example, the complex number 1 + i is algebraic because it is a root of . All integers and rational numbers are algebraic, as are all roots of integers. Real and complex numbers that are not algebraic, such as and , are called transcendental numbers. The set of algebraic numbers is countably infinite and has measure zero in the Lebesgue measure as a subset of the uncountable complex numbers. In that sense, almost all complex numbers are transcendental. Examples * All rational numbers are algebraic. Any rational number, expressed as the quotient of an integer and a (non-zero) natural number , satisfies the above definition, because is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Transcendental Number
In mathematics, a transcendental number is a number that is not algebraic—that is, not the root of a non-zero polynomial of finite degree with rational coefficients. The best known transcendental numbers are and . Though only a few classes of transcendental numbers are known—partly because it can be extremely difficult to show that a given number is transcendental—transcendental numbers are not rare. Indeed, almost all real and complex numbers are transcendental, since the algebraic numbers comprise a countable set, while the set of real numbers and the set of complex numbers are both uncountable sets, and therefore larger than any countable set. All transcendental real numbers (also known as real transcendental numbers or transcendental irrational numbers) are irrational numbers, since all rational numbers are algebraic. The converse is not true: not all irrational numbers are transcendental. Hence, the set of real numbers consists of non-overlapping rational, algebrai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Charles Hermite
Charles Hermite () FRS FRSE MIAS (24 December 1822 – 14 January 1901) was a French mathematician who did research concerning number theory, quadratic forms, invariant theory, orthogonal polynomials, elliptic functions, and algebra. Hermite polynomials, Hermite interpolation, Hermite normal form, Hermitian operators, and cubic Hermite splines are named in his honor. One of his students was Henri Poincaré. He was the first to prove that '' e'', the base of natural logarithms, is a transcendental number. His methods were used later by Ferdinand von Lindemann to prove that π is transcendental. Life Hermite was born in Dieuze, Moselle, on 24 December 1822, with a deformity in his right foot that would impair his gait throughout his life. He was the sixth of seven children of Ferdinand Hermite and his wife, Madeleine née Lallemand. Ferdinand worked in the drapery business of Madeleine's family while also pursuing a career as an artist. The drapery business relocate ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Springer-Verlag
Springer Science+Business Media, commonly known as Springer, is a German multinational publishing company of books, e-books and peer-reviewed journals in science, humanities, technical and medical (STM) publishing. Originally founded in 1842 in Berlin, it expanded internationally in the 1960s, and through mergers in the 1990s and a sale to venture capitalists it fused with Wolters Kluwer and eventually became part of Springer Nature in 2015. Springer has major offices in Berlin, Heidelberg, Dordrecht, and New York City. History Julius Springer founded Springer-Verlag in Berlin in 1842 and his son Ferdinand Springer grew it from a small firm of 4 employees into Germany's then second largest academic publisher with 65 staff in 1872.Chronology ". Springer Science+Business Media. In 1964, Springer expanded its business internationally, o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Proofs From THE BOOK
''Proofs from THE BOOK'' is a book of mathematical proofs by Martin Aigner and Günter M. Ziegler. The book is dedicated to the mathematician Paul Erdős, who often referred to "The Book" in which God keeps the most elegant proof of each mathematical theorem. During a lecture in 1985, Erdős said, "You don't have to believe in God, but you should believe in The Book." Content ''Proofs from THE BOOK'' contains 32 sections (45 in the sixth edition), each devoted to one theorem but often containing multiple proofs and related results. It spans a broad range of mathematical fields: number theory, geometry, analysis, combinatorics and graph theory. Erdős himself made many suggestions for the book, but died before its publication. The book is illustrated by . It has gone through six editions in English, and has been translated into Persian, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, Polish, Portuguese, Korean, Turkish, Russian and Spanish. In November 2017 the American M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
