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The infinity symbol () is a List of mathematical symbols, mathematical symbol representing the concept of infinity. This symbol is also called a ''lemniscate'', after the lemniscate curves of a similar shape studied in algebraic geometry, or "lazy eight", in the terminology of livestock branding. This symbol was first used mathematically by John Wallis in the 17th century, although it has a longer history of other uses. In mathematics, it often refers to infinite processes (potential infinity) rather than infinite values (actual infinity). It has other related technical meanings, such as the use of long-lasting paper in bookbinding, and has been used for its symbolic value of the infinite in modern mysticism and literature. It is a common element of graphic design, for instance in corporate logos as well as in older designs such as the MΓ©tis flag. The infinity symbol and several variations of the symbol are available in various character encodings. History The lemniscate ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ordinal Number
In set theory, an ordinal number, or ordinal, is a generalization of ordinal numerals (first, second, th, etc.) aimed to extend enumeration to infinite sets. A finite set can be enumerated by successively labeling each element with the least natural number that has not been previously used. To extend this process to various infinite sets, ordinal numbers are defined more generally using linearly ordered greek letter variables that include the natural numbers and have the property that every set of ordinals has a least or "smallest" element (this is needed for giving a meaning to "the least unused element"). This more general definition allows us to define an ordinal number \omega (omega) to be the least element that is greater than every natural number, along with ordinal numbers , , etc., which are even greater than . A linear order such that every non-empty subset has a least element is called a well-order. The axiom of choice implies that every set can be well-orde ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Wallis
John Wallis (; ; ) was an English clergyman and mathematician, who is given partial credit for the development of infinitesimal calculus. Between 1643 and 1689 Wallis served as chief cryptographer for Parliament and, later, the royal court. He is credited with introducing the symbol β to represent the concept of infinity. He similarly used 1/β for an infinitesimal. He was a contemporary of Newton and one of the greatest intellectuals of the early renaissance of mathematics. Biography Educational background * Cambridge, M.A., Oxford, D.D. * Grammar School at Tenterden, Kent, 1625β31. * School of Martin Holbeach at Felsted, Essex, 1631β2. * Cambridge University, Emmanuel College, 1632β40; B.A., 1637; M.A., 1640. * D.D. at Oxford in 1654. Family On 14 March 1645, he married Susanna Glynde ( β 16 March 1687). They had three children: # Anne, Lady Blencowe (4 June 1656 β 5 April 1718), married Sir John Blencowe (30 November 1642 β 6 May 1726) in 1675, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Projective Line
In projective geometry and mathematics more generally, a projective line is, roughly speaking, the extension of a usual line by a point called a '' point at infinity''. The statement and the proof of many theorems of geometry are simplified by the resultant elimination of special cases; for example, two distinct projective lines in a projective plane meet in exactly one point (there is no "parallel" case). There are many equivalent ways to formally define a projective line; one of the most common is to define a projective line over a field ''K'', commonly denoted P1(''K''), as the set of one-dimensional subspaces of a two-dimensional ''K''-vector space. This definition is a special instance of the general definition of a projective space. The projective line over the reals is a manifold; see '' Real projective line'' for details. Homogeneous coordinates An arbitrary point in the projective line P1(''K'') may be represented by an equivalence class of '' homogeneous coordi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman Numeral
Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, each with a fixed integer value. The modern style uses only these seven: The use of Roman numerals continued long after the decline of the Roman Empire. From the 14th century on, Roman numerals began to be replaced by Arabic numerals; however, this process was gradual, and the use of Roman numerals persisted in various places, including on clock faces. For instance, on the clock of Big Ben (designed in 1852), the hours from 1 to 12 are written as: The notations and can be read as "one less than five" (4) and "one less than ten" (9), although there is a tradition favouring the representation of "4" as "" on Roman numeral clocks. Other common uses include year numbers on monuments and buildings and copyright dates on the title screen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Acid-free Paper
Acid-free paper is paper that, if infused in water, yields a neutral or basic pH (7 or slightly greater). It can be made from any cellulose fiber as long as the active acid pulp is eliminated during processing. It is also lignin- and sulfur-free. Acid-free paper addresses the problem of preserving documents and preserving artwork for long periods. Overview Paper made from wood-based pulp that has not had its lignin removed turns yellow, becomes brittle and deteriorates. When exposed to light and/or heat, the molecules in the acidic paper will break down faster. Acidic wood-pulp paper became commonplace in the late 19th century, and in the 1930s. William Barrow (a chemist and librarian) published a report about the deterioration of acidic paper in the libraries. For fear of the gradual disintegration of written materials, measures have since been taken to improve the quality of paper. During production, acid-free paper may be treated with a mild base (usually calcium or m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Infinity
Infinity is something which is boundless, endless, or larger than any natural number. It is denoted by \infty, called the infinity symbol. From the time of the Ancient Greek mathematics, ancient Greeks, the Infinity (philosophy), philosophical nature of infinity has been the subject of many discussions among philosophers. In the 17th century, with the introduction of the infinity symbol and the infinitesimal calculus, mathematicians began to work with infinite series and what some mathematicians (including Guillaume de l'HΓ΄pital, l'HΓ΄pital and Johann Bernoulli, Bernoulli) regarded as infinitely small quantities, but infinity continued to be associated with endless processes. As mathematicians struggled with the foundation of calculus, it remained unclear whether infinity could be considered as a number or Magnitude (mathematics), magnitude and, if so, how this could be done. At the end of the 19th century, Georg Cantor enlarged the mathematical study of infinity by studying ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexandroff Extension
In the mathematical field of topology, the Alexandroff extension is a way to extend a noncompact topological space by adjoining a single point in such a way that the resulting space is compact. It is named after the Russian mathematician Pavel Alexandroff. More precisely, let ''X'' be a topological space. Then the Alexandroff extension of ''X'' is a certain compact space ''X''* together with an open embedding ''c'' : ''X'' β ''X''* such that the complement of ''X'' in ''X''* consists of a single point, typically denoted β. The map ''c'' is a Hausdorff compactification if and only if ''X'' is a locally compact, noncompact Hausdorff space. For such spaces the Alexandroff extension is called the one-point compactification or Alexandroff compactification. The advantages of the Alexandroff compactification lie in its simple, often geometrically meaningful structure and the fact that it is in a precise sense minimal among all compactifications; the disadvanta ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lemniscate
In algebraic geometry, a lemniscate ( or ) is any of several figure-eight or -shaped curves. The word comes from the Latin , meaning "decorated with ribbons", from the Greek (), meaning "ribbon",. or which alternatively may refer to the wool from which the ribbons were made. Curves that have been called a lemniscate include three quartic plane curves: the hippopede or lemniscate of Booth, the lemniscate of Bernoulli, and the lemniscate of Gerono. The hippopede was studied by Proclus (5th century), but the term "lemniscate" was not used until the work of Jacob Bernoulli in the late 17th century. History and examples Lemniscate of Booth The consideration of curves with a figure-eight shape can be traced back to Proclus, a Greek Neoplatonist philosopher and mathematician who lived in the 5th century AD. Proclus considered the cross-sections of a torus by a plane parallel to the axis of the torus. As he observed, for most such sections the cross section consists of either on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Topological Space
In mathematics, a topological space is, roughly speaking, a Geometry, geometrical space in which Closeness (mathematics), closeness is defined but cannot necessarily be measured by a numeric Distance (mathematics), distance. More specifically, a topological space is a Set (mathematics), set whose elements are called Point (geometry), points, along with an additional structure called a topology, which can be defined as a set of Neighbourhood (mathematics), neighbourhoods for each point that satisfy some Axiom#Non-logical axioms, axioms formalizing the concept of closeness. There are several equivalent definitions of a topology, the most commonly used of which is the definition through open sets, which is easier than the others to manipulate. A topological space is the most general type of a space (mathematics), mathematical space that allows for the definition of Limit (mathematics), limits, Continuous function (topology), continuity, and Connected space, connectedness. Common types ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arbitrarily Large
In mathematics, the phrases arbitrarily large, arbitrarily small and arbitrarily long are used in statements to make clear the fact that an object is large, small, or long with little limitation or restraint, respectively. The use of "arbitrarily" often occurs in the context of real numbers (and its subsets thereof), though its meaning can differ from that of "sufficiently" and "infinitely". Examples The statement : "f(x) is non-negative for arbitrarily large ''x''." is a shorthand for: : "For every real number ''n'', f(x) is non-negative for some value of ''x'' greater than ''n''." In the common parlance, the term "arbitrarily long" is often used in the context of sequence of numbers. For example, to say that there are "arbitrarily long arithmetic progressions of prime numbers" does not mean that there exists any infinitely long arithmetic progression of prime numbers (there is not), nor that there exists any particular arithmetic progression of prime numbers that is in some ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Topology
Topology (from the Greek language, Greek words , and ) is the branch of mathematics concerned with the properties of a Mathematical object, geometric object that are preserved under Continuous function, continuous Deformation theory, deformations, such as Stretch factor, stretching, Torsion (mechanics), twisting, crumpling, and bending; that is, without closing holes, opening holes, tearing, gluing, or passing through itself. A topological space is a Set (mathematics), set endowed with a structure, called a ''Topology (structure), topology'', which allows defining continuous deformation of subspaces, and, more generally, all kinds of List of continuity-related mathematical topics, continuity. Euclidean spaces, and, more generally, metric spaces are examples of topological spaces, as any distance or metric defines a topology. The deformations that are considered in topology are homeomorphisms and Homotopy, homotopies. A property that is invariant under such deformations is a to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geometry
Geometry (; ) is a branch of mathematics concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. Geometry is, along with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is called a ''List of geometers, geometer''. Until the 19th century, geometry was almost exclusively devoted to Euclidean geometry, which includes the notions of point (geometry), point, line (geometry), line, plane (geometry), plane, distance, angle, surface (mathematics), surface, and curve, as fundamental concepts. Originally developed to model the physical world, geometry has applications in almost all sciences, and also in art, architecture, and other activities that are related to graphics. Geometry also has applications in areas of mathematics that are apparently unrelated. For example, methods of algebraic geometry are fundamental in Wiles's proof of Fermat's Last Theorem, Wiles's proof of Fermat's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
