Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
In mathematics, a proof by infinite descent, also known as Fermat's method of descent, is a particular kind of proof by contradiction [1] used to show that a statement cannot possibly hold for any number, by showing that if the statement were to hold for a number, then the same would be true for a smaller number, leading to an infinite descent and ultimately a contradiction. [2]
11 Further reading. 12 ... The base of the left side is irrational and the right ... This second definition is used in Errett Bishop's proof that the square root of 2 ...
A more general proof shows that the mth root of an integer N is irrational, unless N is the mth power of an integer n. [7] That is, it is impossible to express the mth root of an integer N as the ratio a ⁄ b of two integers a and b, that share no common prime factor, except in cases in which b = 1.
The classic proof that the square root of 2 is irrational is a refutation by contradiction. [11] Indeed, we set out to prove the negation ¬ ∃ a, b ∈ . a/b = √ 2 by assuming that there exist natural numbers a and b whose ratio is the square root of two, and derive a contradiction.
Transcendental numbers therefore represent the typical case; even so, it may be extremely difficult to prove that a given number is transcendental (or even simply irrational). For this reason transcendence theory often works towards a more quantitative approach.
P. Oxy. 29, one of the oldest surviving fragments of Euclid's Elements, a textbook used for millennia to teach proof-writing techniques. The diagram accompanies Book II, Proposition 5. [1] A mathematical proof is a deductive argument for a mathematical statement, showing that the stated assumptions logically guarantee the
Bertrand's postulate and a proof; Estimation of covariance matrices; Fermat's little theorem and some proofs; Gödel's completeness theorem and its original proof; Mathematical induction and a proof; Proof that 0.999... equals 1; Proof that 22/7 exceeds π; Proof that e is irrational; Proof that π is irrational
The following 1953 proof by Dov Jarden has been widely used as an example of a non-constructive proof since at least 1970: [4] [5] CURIOSA 339. A Simple Proof That a Power of an Irrational Number to an Irrational Exponent May Be Rational. is either rational or irrational. If it is rational, our statement is proved.