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Undefined (mathematics)
In mathematics, the term undefined is often used to refer to an expression which is not assigned an interpretation or a value (such as an indeterminate form, which has the propensity of assuming different values). The term can take on several different meanings depending on the context. For example: * In various branches of mathematics, certain concepts are introduced as primitive notions (e.g., the terms "point", "line" and "angle" in geometry). As these terms are not defined in terms of other concepts, they may be referred to as "undefined terms". * A function is said to be "undefined" at points outside of its domainfor example, the real-valued function f(x)=\sqrt is undefined for negative x (i.e., it assigns no value to negative arguments). * In algebra, some arithmetic operations may not assign a meaning to certain values of its operands (e.g., division by zero). In which case, the expressions involving such operands are termed "undefined". Undefined terms In ancient tim ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mathematics
Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics with the major subdisciplines of number theory, algebra, geometry, and analysis, respectively. There is no general consensus among mathematicians about a common definition for their academic discipline. Most mathematical activity involves the discovery of properties of abstract objects and the use of pure reason to prove them. These objects consist of either abstractions from nature orin modern mathematicsentities that are stipulated to have certain properties, called axioms. A ''proof'' consists of a succession of applications of deductive rules to already established results. These results include previously proved theorems, axioms, andin case of abstraction from naturesome basic properties that are considered true starting points of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
L'Hôpital's Rule
In calculus, l'Hôpital's rule or l'Hospital's rule (, , ), also known as Bernoulli's rule, is a theorem which provides a technique to evaluate limits of indeterminate forms. Application (or repeated application) of the rule often converts an indeterminate form to an expression that can be easily evaluated by substitution. The rule is named after the 17th-century French mathematician Guillaume de l'Hôpital. Although the rule is often attributed to l'Hôpital, the theorem was first introduced to him in 1694 by the Swiss mathematician Johann Bernoulli. L'Hôpital's rule states that for functions and which are differentiable on an open interval except possibly at a point contained in , if \lim_f(x)=\lim_g(x)=0 \text \pm\infty, and g'(x)\ne 0 for all in with , and \lim_\frac exists, then :\lim_\frac = \lim_\frac. The differentiation of the numerator and denominator often simplifies the quotient or converts it to a limit that can be evaluated directly. History Guillaume ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Extended Real Number Line
In mathematics, the affinely extended real number system is obtained from the real number system \R by adding two infinity elements: +\infty and -\infty, where the infinities are treated as actual numbers. It is useful in describing the algebra on infinities and the various limiting behaviors in calculus and mathematical analysis, especially in the theory of measure and integration. The affinely extended real number system is denoted \overline or \infty, +\infty/math> or It is the Dedekind–MacNeille completion of the real numbers. When the meaning is clear from context, the symbol +\infty is often written simply as Motivation Limits It is often useful to describe the behavior of a function f, as either the argument x or the function value f gets "infinitely large" in some sense. For example, consider the function f defined by :f(x) = \frac. The graph of this function has a horizontal asymptote at y = 0. Geometrically, when moving increasingly farther to the right along t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Divergent Sequence
As the positive integer n becomes larger and larger, the value n\cdot \sin\left(\tfrac1\right) becomes arbitrarily close to 1. We say that "the limit of the sequence n\cdot \sin\left(\tfrac1\right) equals 1." In mathematics, the limit of a sequence is the value that the terms of a sequence "tend to", and is often denoted using the \lim symbol (e.g., \lim_a_n).Courant (1961), p. 29. If such a limit exists, the sequence is called convergent. A sequence that does not converge is said to be divergent. The limit of a sequence is said to be the fundamental notion on which the whole of mathematical analysis ultimately rests. Limits can be defined in any metric or topological space, but are usually first encountered in the real numbers. History The Greek philosopher Zeno of Elea is famous for formulating paradoxes that involve limiting processes. Leucippus, Democritus, Antiphon, Eudoxus, and Archimedes developed the method of exhaustion, which uses an infinite sequence of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Measure Theory
In mathematics, the concept of a measure is a generalization and formalization of geometrical measures ( length, area, volume) and other common notions, such as mass and probability of events. These seemingly distinct concepts have many similarities and can often be treated together in a single mathematical context. Measures are foundational in probability theory, integration theory, and can be generalized to assume negative values, as with electrical charge. Far-reaching generalizations (such as spectral measures and projection-valued measures) of measure are widely used in quantum physics and physics in general. The intuition behind this concept dates back to ancient Greece, when Archimedes tried to calculate the area of a circle. But it was not until the late 19th and early 20th centuries that measure theory became a branch of mathematics. The foundations of modern measure theory were laid in the works of Émile Borel, Henri Lebesgue, Nikolai Luzin, Johann Radon, Const ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Analysis
Analysis ( : analyses) is the process of breaking a complex topic or substance into smaller parts in order to gain a better understanding of it. The technique has been applied in the study of mathematics and logic since before Aristotle (384–322 B.C.), though ''analysis'' as a formal concept is a relatively recent development. The word comes from the Ancient Greek ἀνάλυσις (''analysis'', "a breaking-up" or "an untying;" from ''ana-'' "up, throughout" and ''lysis'' "a loosening"). From it also comes the word's plural, ''analyses''. As a formal concept, the method has variously been ascribed to Alhazen, René Descartes (''Discourse on the Method''), and Galileo Galilei. It has also been ascribed to Isaac Newton, in the form of a practical method of physical discovery (which he did not name). The converse of analysis is synthesis: putting the pieces back together again in new or different whole. Applications Science The field of chemistry uses analysis in thr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Partial Function
In mathematics, a partial function from a set to a set is a function from a subset of (possibly itself) to . The subset , that is, the domain of viewed as a function, is called the domain of definition of . If equals , that is, if is defined on every element in , then is said to be total. More technically, a partial function is a binary relation over two sets that associates every element of the first set to ''at most'' one element of the second set; it is thus a functional binary relation. It generalizes the concept of a (total) function by not requiring every element of the first set to be associated to ''exactly'' one element of the second set. A partial function is often used when its exact domain of definition is not known or difficult to specify. This is the case in calculus, where, for example, the quotient of two functions is a partial function whose domain of definition cannot contain the zeros of the denominator. For this reason, in calculus, and more gene ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Computability Theory (computer Science)
Computability theory, also known as recursion theory, is a branch of mathematical logic, computer science, and the theory of computation that originated in the 1930s with the study of computable functions and Turing degrees. The field has since expanded to include the study of generalized computability and definability. In these areas, computability theory overlaps with proof theory and effective descriptive set theory. Basic questions addressed by computability theory include: * What does it mean for a function on the natural numbers to be computable? * How can noncomputable functions be classified into a hierarchy based on their level of noncomputability? Although there is considerable overlap in terms of knowledge and methods, mathematical computability theorists study the theory of relative computability, reducibility notions, and degree structures; those in the computer science field focus on the theory of subrecursive hierarchies, formal methods, and formal languages. In ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Essential Singularity
In complex analysis, an essential singularity of a function is a "severe" singularity near which the function exhibits odd behavior. The category ''essential singularity'' is a "left-over" or default group of isolated singularities that are especially unmanageable: by definition they fit into neither of the other two categories of singularity that may be dealt with in some manner – removable singularities and poles. In practice some include non-isolated singularities too; those do not have a residue. Formal description Consider an open subset U of the complex plane \mathbb. Let a be an element of U, and f\colon U\setminus\\to \mathbb a holomorphic function. The point a is called an ''essential singularity'' of the function f if the singularity is neither a pole nor a removable singularity. For example, the function f(z)=e^ has an essential singularity at z=0. Alternative descriptions Let \;a\; be a complex number, assume that f(z) is not defined at \;a\; but is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Meromorphic Function
In the mathematical field of complex analysis, a meromorphic function on an open subset ''D'' of the complex plane is a function that is holomorphic on all of ''D'' ''except'' for a set of isolated points, which are pole (complex analysis), poles of the function. The term comes from the Greek ''meros'' ( μέρος), meaning "part". Every meromorphic function on ''D'' can be expressed as the ratio between two holomorphic functions (with the denominator not constant 0) defined on ''D'': any pole must coincide with a zero of the denominator. Heuristic description Intuitively, a meromorphic function is a ratio of two well-behaved (holomorphic) functions. Such a function will still be well-behaved, except possibly at the points where the denominator of the fraction is zero. If the denominator has a zero at ''z'' and the numerator does not, then the value of the function will approach infinity; if both parts have a zero at ''z'', then one must compare the multiplicity of these zero ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pole (complex Analysis)
In complex analysis (a branch of mathematics), a pole is a certain type of singularity of a complex-valued function of a complex variable. In some sense, it is the simplest type of singularity. Technically, a point is a pole of a function if it is a zero of the function and is holomorphic in some neighbourhood of (that is, complex differentiable in a neighbourhood of ). A function is meromorphic in an open set if for every point of there is a neighborhood of in which either or is holomorphic. If is meromorphic in , then a zero of is a pole of , and a pole of is a zero of . This induces a duality between ''zeros'' and ''poles'', that is fundamental for the study of meromorphic functions. For example, if a function is meromorphic on the whole complex plane plus the point at infinity, then the sum of the multiplicities of its poles equals the sum of the multiplicities of its zeros. Definitions A function of a complex variable is holomorphic in an open domai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Removable Singularity
In complex analysis, a removable singularity of a holomorphic function is a point at which the function is undefined, but it is possible to redefine the function at that point in such a way that the resulting function is regular in a neighbourhood of that point. For instance, the (unnormalized) sinc function : \text(z) = \frac has a singularity at . This singularity can be removed by defining \text(0) := 1, which is the limit of as tends to 0. The resulting function is holomorphic. In this case the problem was caused by being given an indeterminate form. Taking a power series expansion for \frac around the singular point shows that : \text(z) = \frac\left(\sum_^ \frac \right) = \sum_^ \frac = 1 - \frac + \frac - \frac + \cdots. Formally, if U \subset \mathbb C is an open subset of the complex plane \mathbb C, a \in U a point of U, and f: U\setminus \ \rightarrow \mathbb C is a holomorphic function, then a is called a removable singularity for f if there exists a holomorp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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