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Books > Science & Mathematics > Mathematics > Mathematical foundations
Quantitative thinking is our inclination to view natural and everyday phenomena through a lens of measurable events, with forecasts, odds, predictions, and likelihood playing a dominant part. The Error of Truth recounts the astonishing and unexpected tale of how quantitative thinking came to be, and its rise to primacy in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Additionally, it considers how seeing the world through a quantitative lens has shaped our perception of the world we live in, and explores the lives of the individuals behind its early establishment. This worldview was unlike anything humankind had before, and it came about because of a momentous human achievement: we had learned how to measure uncertainty. Probability as a science was conceptualised. As a result of probability theory, we now had correlations, reliable predictions, regressions, the bellshaped curve for studying social phenomena, and the psychometrics of educational testing. Significantly, these developments happened during a relatively short period in world history- roughly, the 130-year period from 1790 to 1920, from about the close of the Napoleonic era, through the Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolutions, to the end of World War I. At which time, transportation had advanced rapidly, due to the invention of the steam engine, and literacy rates had increased exponentially. This brief period in time was ready for fresh intellectual activity, and it gave a kind of impetus for the probability inventions. Quantification is now everywhere in our daily lives, such as in the ubiquitous microchip in smartphones, cars, and appliances; in the Bayesian logic of artificial intelligence, as well as applications in business, engineering, medicine, economics, and elsewhere. Probability is the foundation of quantitative thinking. The Error of Truth tells its story- when, why, and how it happened.
Boolean valued analysis is a technique for studying properties of an arbitrary mathematical object by comparing its representations in two different set-theoretic models whose construction utilises principally distinct Boolean algebras. The use of two models for studying a single object is a characteristic of the so-called non-standard methods of analysis. Application of Boolean valued models to problems of analysis rests ultimately on the procedures of ascending and descending, the two natural functors acting between a new Boolean valued universe and the von Neumann universe. This book demonstrates the main advantages of Boolean valued analysis which provides the tools for transforming, for example, function spaces to subsets of the reals, operators to functionals, and vector-functions to numerical mappings. Boolean valued representations of algebraic systems, Banach spaces, and involutive algebras are examined thoroughly. Audience: This volume is intended for classical analysts seeking new tools, and for model theorists in search of challenging applications of nonstandard models.
This book proves some important new theorems in the theory of canonical inner models for large cardinal hypotheses, a topic of central importance in modern set theory. In particular, the author 'completes' the theory of Fine Structure and Iteration Trees (FSIT) by proving a comparison theorem for mouse pairs parallel to the FSIT comparison theorem for pure extender mice, and then using the underlying comparison process to develop a fine structure theory for strategy mice. Great effort has been taken to make the book accessible to non-experts so that it may also serve as an introduction to the higher reaches of inner model theory. It contains a good deal of background material, some of it unpublished folklore, and includes many references to the literature to guide further reading. An introductory essay serves to place the new results in their broader context. This is a landmark work in inner model theory that should be in every set theorist's library.
In these essays Geoffrey Hellman presents a strong case for a healthy pluralism in mathematics and its logics, supporting peaceful coexistence despite what appear to be contradictions between different systems, and positing different frameworks serving different legitimate purposes. The essays refine and extend Hellman's modal-structuralist account of mathematics, developing a height-potentialist view of higher set theory which recognizes indefinite extendability of models and stages at which sets occur. In the first of three new essays written for this volume, Hellman shows how extendability can be deployed to derive the axiom of Infinity and that of Replacement, improving on earlier accounts; he also shows how extendability leads to attractive, novel resolutions of the set-theoretic paradoxes. Other essays explore advantages and limitations of restrictive systems - nominalist, predicativist, and constructivist. Also included are two essays, with Solomon Feferman, on predicative foundations of arithmetic.
The proceedings of the Los Angeles Caltech-UCLA 'Cabal Seminar' were originally published in the 1970s and 1980s. Wadge Degrees and Projective Ordinals is the second of a series of four books collecting the seminal papers from the original volumes together with extensive unpublished material, new papers on related topics and discussion of research developments since the publication of the original volumes. Focusing on the subjects of 'Wadge Degrees and Pointclasses' (Part III) and 'Projective Ordinals' (Part IV), each of the two sections is preceded by an introductory survey putting the papers into present context. These four volumes will be a necessary part of the book collection of every set theorist.
Mathematician and popular science author Eugenia Cheng is on a mission to show you that mathematics can be flexible, creative, and visual. This joyful journey through the world of abstract mathematics into category theory will demystify mathematical thought processes and help you develop your own thinking, with no formal mathematical background needed. The book brings abstract mathematical ideas down to earth using examples of social justice, current events, and everyday life - from privilege to COVID-19 to driving routes. The journey begins with the ideas and workings of abstract mathematics, after which you will gently climb toward more technical material, learning everything needed to understand category theory, and then key concepts in category theory like natural transformations, duality, and even a glimpse of ongoing research in higher-dimensional category theory. For fans of How to Bake Pi, this will help you dig deeper into mathematical concepts and build your mathematical background.
Automatic sequences are sequences over a finite alphabet generated by a finite-state machine. This book presents a novel viewpoint on automatic sequences, and more generally on combinatorics on words, by introducing a decision method through which many new results in combinatorics and number theory can be automatically proved or disproved with little or no human intervention. This approach to proving theorems is extremely powerful, allowing long and error-prone case-based arguments to be replaced by simple computations. Readers will learn how to phrase their desired results in first-order logic, using free software to automate the computation process. Results that normally require multipage proofs can emerge in milliseconds, allowing users to engage with mathematical questions that would otherwise be difficult to solve. With more than 150 exercises included, this text is an ideal resource for researchers, graduate students, and advanced undergraduates studying combinatorics, sequences, and number theory.
This textbook gives a complete and modern introduction to mathematical logic. The author uses contemporary notation, conventions, and perspectives throughout, and emphasizes interactions with the rest of mathematics. In addition to covering the basic concepts of mathematical logic and the fundamental material on completeness, compactness, and incompleteness, it devotes significant space to thorough introductions to the pillars of the modern subject: model theory, set theory, and computability. Requiring only a modest background of undergraduate mathematics, the text can be readily adapted for a variety of one- or two-semester courses at the upper-undergraduate or beginning-graduate level. Numerous examples reinforce the key ideas and illustrate their applications, and a wealth of classroom-tested exercises serve to consolidate readers' understanding. Comprehensive and engaging, this book offers a fresh approach to this enduringly fascinating and important subject.
Using a unique pedagogical approach, this text introduces mathematical logic by guiding students in implementing the underlying logical concepts and mathematical proofs via Python programming. This approach, tailored to the unique intuitions and strengths of the ever-growing population of programming-savvy students, brings mathematical logic into the comfort zone of these students and provides clarity that can only be achieved by a deep hands-on understanding and the satisfaction of having created working code. While the approach is unique, the text follows the same set of topics typically covered in a one-semester undergraduate course, including propositional logic and first-order predicate logic, culminating in a proof of Goedel's completeness theorem. A sneak peek to Goedel's incompleteness theorem is also provided. The textbook is accompanied by an extensive collection of programming tasks, code skeletons, and unit tests. Familiarity with proofs and basic proficiency in Python is assumed.
Computing in Nonlinear Media and Automata Collectives presents an account of new ways to design massively parallel computing devices in advanced mathematical models, such as cellular automata and lattice swarms, from unconventional materials, including chemical solutions, bio-polymers, and excitable media.
The articles collected in this volume represent the contributions presented at the IMA workshop on "Dynamics of Algorithms" which took place in November 1997. The workshop was an integral part of the 1997 -98 IMA program on "Emerging Applications of Dynamical Systems." The interaction between algorithms and dynamical systems is mutually beneficial since dynamical methods can be used to study algorithms that are applied repeatedly. Convergence, asymptotic rates are indeed dynamical properties. On the other hand, the study of dynamical systems benefits enormously from having efficient algorithms to compute dynamical objects.
Is mathematics 'entangled' with its various formalisations? Or are the central concepts of mathematics largely insensitive to formalisation, or 'formalism free'? What is the semantic point of view and how is it implemented in foundational practice? Does a given semantic framework always have an implicit syntax? Inspired by what she calls the 'natural language moves' of Goedel and Tarski, Juliette Kennedy considers what roles the concepts of 'entanglement' and 'formalism freeness' play in a range of logical settings, from computability and set theory to model theory and second order logic, to logicality, developing an entirely original philosophy of mathematics along the way. The treatment is historically, logically and set-theoretically rich, and topics such as naturalism and foundations receive their due, but now with a new twist.
This is the second of two volumes by Professor Cherlin presenting the state of the art in the classification of homogeneous structures in binary languages and related problems in the intersection of model theory and combinatorics. Researchers and graduate students in the area will find in these volumes many far-reaching results and interesting new research directions to pursue. This volume continues the analysis of the first volume to 3-multi-graphs and 3-multi-tournaments, expansions of graphs and tournaments by the addition of a further binary relation. The opening chapter provides an overview of the volume, outlining the relevant results and conjectures. The author applies and extends the results of Volume I to obtain a detailed catalogue of such structures and a second classification conjecture. The book ends with an appendix exploring recent advances and open problems in the theory of homogeneous structures and related subjects.
This is the first of two volumes by Professor Cherlin presenting the state of the art in the classification of homogeneous structures in binary languages and related problems in the intersection of model theory and combinatorics. Researchers and graduate students in the area will find in these volumes many far-reaching results and interesting new research directions to pursue. In this volume, Cherlin develops a complete classification of homogeneous ordered graphs and provides a full proof. He then proposes a new family of metrically homogeneous graphs, a weakening of the usual homogeneity condition. A general classification conjecture is presented, together with general structure theory and applications to a general classification conjecture for such graphs. It also includes introductory chapters giving an overview of the results and methods of both volumes, and an appendix surveying recent developments in the area. An extensive accompanying bibliography of related literature, organized by topic, is available online.
This volume comprises an imaginative collection of pieces created in tribute to Martin Gardner. Perhaps best known for writing Scientific American's "Mathematical Games" column for years, Gardner used his personal exuberance and fascination with puzzles and magic to entice a wide range of readers into a world of mathematical discovery. This tribute therefore contains pieces as widely varied as Gardner's own interests, ranging from limericks to lengthy treatises, from mathematical journal articles to personal stories. This book makes a charming and unusual addition to any personal library. Selected papers: - The Odyssey of the Figure Eight Puzzle by Stewart Coffin - Block-Packing Jambalaya by Bill Cutler - O'Beirne's Hexiamond by Richard K. Guy - Biblical Ladders by Donald E. Knuth - Three Limericks: On Space, Time and Speed by Tim Rowett.
The authors explain in this work a new approach to observing and controlling linear systems whose inputs and outputs are not fixed in advance. They cover a class of linear time-invariant state/signal system that is general enough to include most of the standard classes of linear time-invariant dynamical systems, but simple enough that it is easy to understand the fundamental principles. They begin by explaining the basic theory of finite-dimensional and bounded systems in a way suitable for graduate courses in systems theory and control. They then proceed to the more advanced infinite-dimensional setting, opening up new ways for researchers to study distributed parameter systems, including linear port-Hamiltonian systems and boundary triplets. They include the general non-passive part of the theory in continuous and discrete time, and provide a short introduction to the passive situation. Numerous examples from circuit theory are used to illustrate the theory.
"Contains the contributions of 45 internationally distinguished mathematicians covering all areas of approximation theory-written in honor of the pioneering work of Arun K. Varma to the fields of interpolation and approximation of functions, including Birhoff interpolation and approximation by spline functions."
This Element takes a deep dive into Goedel's 1931 paper giving the first presentation of the Incompleteness Theorems, opening up completely passages in it that might possibly puzzle the student, such as the mysterious footnote 48a. It considers the main ingredients of Goedel's proof: arithmetization, strong representability, and the Fixed Point Theorem in a layered fashion, returning to their various aspects: semantic, syntactic, computational, philosophical and mathematical, as the topic arises. It samples some of the most important proofs of the Incompleteness Theorems, e.g. due to Kuratowski, Smullyan and Robinson, as well as newer proofs, also of other independent statements, due to H. Friedman, Weiermann and Paris-Harrington. It examines the question whether the incompleteness of e.g. Peano Arithmetic gives immediately the undecidability of the Entscheidungsproblem, as Kripke has recently argued. It considers set-theoretical incompleteness, and finally considers some of the philosophical consequences considered in the literature.
Where does the particular form or configuration of a pattern come from, and how is it propagated from pattern to pattern? Templets and the Explanation of Complex Patterns provides a natural language for analysing such questions. Using it, the organisational forces that underlie the fabrication of any pattern can be divided into two classes. First, there are the 'universal laws' of pattern assembly, the configurational rules and constraints inherent within the fabric of the pattern elements themselves. Second, there are the 'templets' - external, situational constraints imposed on the pattern elements. From the perspective of templeting, simple patterns can be directly contrasted with complex patterns: the former are completely determined by their universal laws, whereas the latter also require extensive templets. Natural patterns range along the entire spectrum from simple to complex, and the most complex of these include both random patterns and many biological patterns.
This Element is an exposition of second- and higher-order logic and type theory. It begins with a presentation of the syntax and semantics of classical second-order logic, pointing up the contrasts with first-order logic. This leads to a discussion of higher-order logic based on the concept of a type. The second Section contains an account of the origins and nature of type theory, and its relationship to set theory. Section 3 introduces Local Set Theory (also known as higher-order intuitionistic logic), an important form of type theory based on intuitionistic logic. In Section 4 number of contemporary forms of type theory are described, all of which are based on the so-called 'doctrine of propositions as types'. We conclude with an Appendix in which the semantics for Local Set Theory - based on category theory - is outlined.
Set theory is a branch of mathematics with a special subject matter, the infinite, but also a general framework for all modern mathematics, whose notions figure in every branch, pure and applied. This Element will offer a concise introduction, treating the origins of the subject, the basic notion of set, the axioms of set theory and immediate consequences, the set-theoretic reconstruction of mathematics, and the theory of the infinite, touching also on selected topics from higher set theory, controversial axioms and undecided questions, and philosophical issues raised by technical developments.
The International research Library of Philosophy collects in book form a wide range of important and influential essays in philosophy, drawn predominantly from English-language journals. Each volume in the library deals with a field of enquiry which has received significant attention in philosophy in the last 25 years and is edited by a philosopher noted in that field.
Cryptology: Classical and Modern, Second Edition proficiently introduces readers to the fascinating field of cryptology. The book covers classical methods including substitution, transposition, Alberti, Vigenere, and Hill ciphers. It also includes coverage of the Enigma machine, Turing bombe, and Navajo code. Additionally, the book presents modern methods like RSA, ElGamal, and stream ciphers, as well as the Diffie-Hellman key exchange and Advanced Encryption Standard. When possible, the book details methods for breaking both classical and modern methods. The new edition expands upon the material from the first edition which was oriented for students in non-technical fields. At the same time, the second edition supplements this material with new content that serves students in more technical fields as well. Thus, the second edition can be fully utilized by both technical and non-technical students at all levels of study. The authors include a wealth of material for a one-semester cryptology course, and research exercises that can be used for supplemental projects. Hints and answers to selected exercises are found at the end of the book. Features: Requires no prior programming knowledge or background in college-level mathematics Illustrates the importance of cryptology in cultural and historical contexts, including the Enigma machine, Turing bombe, and Navajo code Gives straightforward explanations of the Advanced Encryption Standard, public-key ciphers, and message authentication Describes the implementation and cryptanalysis of classical ciphers, such as substitution, transposition, shift, affine, Alberti, Vigenere, and Hill
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