Von Neumann Paradox
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Von Neumann Paradox
In mathematics, the von Neumann paradox, named after John von Neumann, is the idea that one can break a planar figure such as the unit square into sets of points and subject each set to an area-preserving affine transformation such that the result is two planar figures of the same size as the original. This was proved in 1929 by John von Neumann, assuming the axiom of choice. It is based on the earlier Banach–Tarski paradox, which is in turn based on the Hausdorff paradox. Banach and Tarski had proved that, using isometric transformations, the result of taking apart and reassembling a two-dimensional figure would necessarily have the same area as the original. This would make creating two unit squares out of one impossible. But von Neumann realized that the trick of such so-called paradoxical decompositions was the use of a group of transformations that include as a subgroup a free group with two generators. The group of area-preserving transformations (whether the special linear ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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Group Theory
In abstract algebra, group theory studies the algebraic structures known as group (mathematics), groups. The concept of a group is central to abstract algebra: other well-known algebraic structures, such as ring (mathematics), rings, field (mathematics), fields, and vector spaces, can all be seen as groups endowed with additional operation (mathematics), operations and axioms. Groups recur throughout mathematics, and the methods of group theory have influenced many parts of algebra. Linear algebraic groups and Lie groups are two branches of group theory that have experienced advances and have become subject areas in their own right. Various physical systems, such as crystals and the hydrogen atom, and Standard Model, three of the four known fundamental forces in the universe, may be modelled by symmetry groups. Thus group theory and the closely related representation theory have many important applications in physics, chemistry, and materials science. Group theory is also ce ...
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Miklós Laczkovich
Miklós Laczkovich (born 21 February 1948) is a Hungarian mathematician mainly noted for his work on real analysis and geometric measure theory. His most famous result is the solution of Tarski's circle-squaring problem in 1989.Ruthen, R. (1989) ''Squaring the Circle'', Scientific American 261(1), 22-24. Career Laczkovich received his degree in mathematics in 1971 at Eötvös Loránd University, where he has been teaching ever since, currently leading the Department of Analysis. He was also a professor at University College London, where he is now a professor emeritus. He became corresponding member (1993), then member (1998) of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. He has held several guest professor positions in the UK, Canada, Italy and the United States. Also being a prolific author, he published over 100 papers and two books, one of which, ''Conjecture and Proof'', was an international success. One of his results is the solution of the Kemperman problem: if ''f'' is a real f ...
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Solvable Group
In mathematics, more specifically in the field of group theory, a solvable group or soluble group is a group that can be constructed from abelian groups using extensions. Equivalently, a solvable group is a group whose derived series terminates in the trivial subgroup. Motivation Historically, the word "solvable" arose from Galois theory and the proof of the general unsolvability of quintic equation. Specifically, a polynomial equation is solvable in radicals if and only if the corresponding Galois group is solvable (note this theorem holds only in characteristic 0). This means associated to a polynomial f \in F /math> there is a tower of field extensionsF = F_0 \subseteq F_1 \subseteq F_2 \subseteq \cdots \subseteq F_m=Ksuch that # F_i = F_ alpha_i/math> where \alpha_i^ \in F_, so \alpha_i is a solution to the equation x^ - a where a \in F_ # F_m contains a splitting field for f(x) Example For example, the smallest Galois field extension of \mathbb containing the elemen ...
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Amenable Group
In mathematics, an amenable group is a locally compact topological group ''G'' carrying a kind of averaging operation on bounded functions that is invariant under translation by group elements. The original definition, in terms of a finitely additive measure (or mean) on subsets of ''G'', was introduced by John von Neumann in 1929 under the German name "messbar" ("measurable" in English) in response to the Banach–Tarski paradox. In 1949 Mahlon M. Day introduced the English translation "amenable", apparently as a pun on "''mean''". The amenability property has a large number of equivalent formulations. In the field of analysis, the definition is in terms of linear functionals. An intuitive way to understand this version is that the support of the regular representation is the whole space of irreducible representations. In discrete group theory, where ''G'' has the discrete topology, a simpler definition is used. In this setting, a group is amenable if one can say what proport ...
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Dense Set
In topology and related areas of mathematics, a subset ''A'' of a topological space ''X'' is said to be dense in ''X'' if every point of ''X'' either belongs to ''A'' or else is arbitrarily "close" to a member of ''A'' — for instance, the rational numbers are a dense subset of the real numbers because every real number either is a rational number or has a rational number arbitrarily close to it (see Diophantine approximation). Formally, A is dense in X if the smallest closed subset of X containing A is X itself. The of a topological space X is the least cardinality of a dense subset of X. Definition A subset A of a topological space X is said to be a of X if any of the following equivalent conditions are satisfied: The smallest closed subset of X containing A is X itself. The closure of A in X is equal to X. That is, \operatorname_X A = X. The interior of the complement of A is empty. That is, \operatorname_X (X \setminus A) = \varnothing. Every point in X either ...
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Banach Measure
In the mathematics, mathematical discipline of measure theory, a Banach measure is a certain type of finite measure, content used to formalize geometric area in problems vulnerable to the axiom of choice. Traditionally, intuitive notions of area are formalized as a classical, countably additive measure. This has the unfortunate effect of leaving non-measurable set, some sets with no well-defined area; a consequence is that some geometric transformations do not leave area invariant, the substance of the Banach–Tarski paradox. A Banach measure is a type of generalized measure to elide this problem. A Banach measure on a set is a finite measure, finite, Sigma-additive_set_function, finitely additive measure , defined for every subset of , and whose value is 0 on finite subsets. A Banach measure on which takes values in is called an on . As Vitali set, Vitali's paradox shows, Banach measures cannot be strengthened to countably additive ones. Stefan Banach showed that it ...
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Fundamenta Mathematicae
''Fundamenta Mathematicae'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal of mathematics with a special focus on the foundations of mathematics, concentrating on set theory, mathematical logic, topology and its interactions with algebra, and dynamical systems. Originally it only covered topology, set theory, and foundations of mathematics: it was the first specialized journal in the field of mathematics..... It is published by the Mathematics Institute of the Polish Academy of Sciences. History The journal was conceived by Zygmunt Janiszewski as a means to foster mathematical research in Poland.According to and to the introduction to the 100th volume of the journal (1978, pp=1–2). These two sources cite an article written by Janiszewski himself in 1918 and titled "''On the needs of Mathematics in Poland''". Janiszewski required that, in order to achieve its goal, the journal should not force Polish mathematicians to submit articles written exclusively in Polish, and should be devoted ...
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Problem Of Measure
Problem solving is the process of achieving a goal by overcoming obstacles, a frequent part of most activities. Problems in need of solutions range from simple personal tasks (e.g. how to turn on an appliance) to complex issues in business and technical fields. The former is an example of simple problem solving (SPS) addressing one issue, whereas the latter is complex problem solving (CPS) with multiple interrelated obstacles. Another classification is into well-defined problems with specific obstacles and goals, and ill-defined problems in which the current situation is troublesome but it is not clear what kind of resolution to aim for. Similarly, one may distinguish formal or fact-based problems requiring psychometric intelligence, versus socio-emotional problems which depend on the changeable emotions of individuals or groups, such as tactful behavior, fashion, or gift choices. Solutions require sufficient resources and knowledge to attain the goal. Professionals such as ...
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One-to-one Correspondence
In mathematics, a bijection, also known as a bijective function, one-to-one correspondence, or invertible function, is a function between the elements of two sets, where each element of one set is paired with exactly one element of the other set, and each element of the other set is paired with exactly one element of the first set. There are no unpaired elements. In mathematical terms, a bijective function is a one-to-one (injective) and onto (surjective) mapping of a set ''X'' to a set ''Y''. The term ''one-to-one correspondence'' must not be confused with ''one-to-one function'' (an injective function; see figures). A bijection from the set ''X'' to the set ''Y'' has an inverse function from ''Y'' to ''X''. If ''X'' and ''Y'' are finite sets, then the existence of a bijection means they have the same number of elements. For infinite sets, the picture is more complicated, leading to the concept of cardinal number—a way to distinguish the various sizes of infinite sets. ...
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