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Infinitesimals are a basic ingredient in calculus as developed by Leibniz, including the law of continuity and the transcendental law of homogeneity. In common speech, an infinitesimal object is an object that is smaller than any feasible measurement, but not zero in size—or, so small that it cannot be distinguished from zero by any available ...
This approach departs from the classical logic used in conventional mathematics by denying the law of the excluded middle, e.g., NOT (a ≠ b) does not imply a = b.In particular, in a theory of smooth infinitesimal analysis one can prove for all infinitesimals ε, NOT (ε ≠ 0); yet it is provably false that all infinitesimals are equal to zero. [2]
A text using infinitesimals. Hermoso, Nonstandard Analysis and the Hyperreals. A gentle introduction. Keisler, Elementary Calculus: An Approach Using Infinitesimals. Includes an axiomatic treatment of the hyperreals, and is freely available under a Creative Commons license
In his 1821 book Cours d'analyse, Augustin-Louis Cauchy discussed variable quantities, infinitesimals and limits, and defined continuity of = by saying that an infinitesimal change in x necessarily produces an infinitesimal change in y, while Grabiner claims that he used a rigorous epsilon-delta definition in proofs. [2]
The law of continuity is a heuristic principle introduced by Gottfried Leibniz based on earlier work by Nicholas of Cusa and Johannes Kepler. It is the principle that "whatever succeeds for the finite, also succeeds for the infinite". [ 1 ]
The subtitle alludes to the infinitesimal numbers of the hyperreal number system of Abraham Robinson and is sometimes given as An approach using infinitesimals. The book is available freely online and is currently published by Dover.
Leibniz's concept of infinitesimals, long considered to be too imprecise to be used as a foundation of calculus, was eventually replaced by rigorous concepts developed by Weierstrass and others in the 19th century. Consequently, Leibniz's quotient notation was re-interpreted to stand for the limit of the modern definition.
This category contains articles and categories related to infinitesimals, including both their history and their modern implementations. Subcategories This category has the following 2 subcategories, out of 2 total.