Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Eudoxus (408–355 BCE) and Theaetetus (417–369 BCE) formulated theorems but did not prove them. Aristotle (384–322 BCE) said definitions should describe the concept being defined in terms of other concepts already known. Mathematical proof was revolutionized by Euclid (300 BCE), who introduced the axiomatic method still in use
The Pythagorean theorem has at least 370 known proofs. [1]In mathematics and formal logic, a theorem is a statement that has been proven, or can be proven. [a] [2] [3] The proof of a theorem is a logical argument that uses the inference rules of a deductive system to establish that the theorem is a logical consequence of the axioms and previously proved theorems.
e. In mathematics, an impossibility theorem is a theorem that demonstrates a problem or general set of problems cannot be solved. These are also known as proofs of impossibility, negative proofs, or negative results. Impossibility theorems often resolve decades or centuries of work spent looking for a solution by proving there is no solution.
Reverse mathematics is a program in mathematical logic that seeks to determine which axioms are required to prove theorems of mathematics. [5] The field was founded by Harvey Friedman . Its defining method can be described as "going backwards from the theorems to the axioms ", in contrast to the ordinary mathematical practice of deriving ...
In doing so, Ribet finally proved the link between the two theorems by confirming, as Frey had suggested, that a proof of the Taniyama–Shimura–Weil conjecture for the kinds of elliptic curves Frey had identified, together with Ribet's theorem, would also prove Fermat's Last Theorem. In mathematical terms, Ribet's theorem showed that if the ...
Gödel's incompleteness theorems are two theorems of mathematical logic that are concerned with the limits of provability in formal axiomatic theories. These results, published by Kurt Gödel in 1931, are important both in mathematical logic and in the philosophy of mathematics. The theorems are widely, but not universally, interpreted as ...
In mathematical set theory, Cantor's theorem is a fundamental result which states that, for any set , the set of all subsets of known as the power set of has a strictly greater cardinality than itself. For finite sets, Cantor's theorem can be seen to be true by simple enumeration of the number of subsets.
All instances of log (x) without a subscript base should be interpreted as a natural logarithm, also commonly written as ln (x) or loge(x). In mathematics, the prime number theorem (PNT) describes the asymptotic distribution of the prime numbers among the positive integers. It formalizes the intuitive idea that primes become less common as they ...