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Books > Science & Mathematics > Mathematics > Mathematical foundations
This volume is the first systematic and thorough attempt to investigate the relation and the possible applications of mereology to contemporary science. It gathers contributions from leading scholars in the field and covers a wide range of scientific theories and practices such as physics, mathematics, chemistry, biology, computer science and engineering. Throughout the volume, a variety of foundational issues are investigated both from the formal and the empirical point of view. The first section looks at the topic as it applies to physics. The section addresses questions of persistence and composition within quantum and relativistic physics and concludes by scrutinizing the possibility to capture continuity of motion as described by our best physical theories within gunky space times. The second part tackles mathematics and shows how to provide a foundation for point-free geometry of space switching to fuzzy-logic. The relation between mereological sums and set-theoretic suprema is investigated and issues about different mereological perspectives such as classical and natural Mereology are thoroughly discussed. The third section in the volume looks at natural science. Several questions from biology, medicine and chemistry are investigated. From the perspective of biology, there is an attempt to provide axioms for inferring statements about part hood between two biological entities from statements about their spatial relation. From the perspective of chemistry, it is argued that classical mereological frameworks are not adequate to capture the practices of chemistry in that they consider neither temporal nor modal parameters. The final part introduces computer science and engineering. A new formal mereological framework in which an indeterminate relation of part hood is taken as a primitive notion is constructed and then applied to a wide variety of disciplines from robotics to knowledge engineering. A formal framework for discrete mereotopology and its applications is developed and finally, the importance of mereology for the relatively new science of domain engineering is also discussed.
Hex: The Full Story is for anyone - hobbyist, professional, student, teacher - who enjoys board games, game theory, discrete math, computing, or history. hex was discovered twice, in 1942 by Piet Hein and again in 1949 by John F. nash. How did this happen? Who created the puzzle for Hein's Danish newspaper column? How are Martin Gardner, David Gale, Claude Shannon, and Claude Berge involved? What is the secret to playing Hex well? The answers are inside... Features New documents on Hein's creation of Hex, the complete set of Danish puzzles, and the identity of their composer Chapters on Gale's game Bridg-it, the game Rex, computer Hex, open Hex problems, and more Dozens of new puzzles and solutions Study guide for Hex players Supplemenetary text for a course in game theory, discrete math, computer science, or science history
This book examines how epistemology was reinvented by Ibn Sina, an influential philosopher-scientist of the classical Islamic world who was known to the West by the Latinised name Avicenna. It explains his theory of knowledge in which intentionality acts as an interaction between the mind and the world. This, in turn, led Ibn Sina to distinguish an operation of intentionality specific to the generation of numbers. The author argues that Ibn Sina's transformation of philosophy is one of the major stages in the de-hellinisation movement of the Greek heritage that was set off by the advent of the Arabic-Islamic civilisation. Readers first learn about Ibn Sina's unprecedented investigation into the concept of the number and his criticism of such Greek thought as Plato's realism, Pythagoreans' empiricism, and Ari stotle's conception of existence. Next, coverage sets out the basics of Ibn Sina's theory of knowledge needed for the construction of numbers. It describes how intentionality turns out to be key in showing the ontological dependence of numbers as well as even more critical to their construction. In describing the various mental operations that make mathematical objects intentional entities, Ibn Sina developed powerful arguments and subtle analyses to show us the extent our mental life depends on intentionality. This monograph thoroughly explores the epistemic dimension of this concept, which, the author believes, can also explain the actual genesis and evolution of mathematics by the human mind.
Formal languages are widely regarded as being above all mathematical objects and as producing a greater level of precision and technical complexity in logical investigations because of this. Yet defining formal languages exclusively in this way offers only a partial and limited explanation of the impact which their use (and the uses of formalisms more generally elsewhere) actually has. In this book, Catarina Dutilh Novaes adopts a much wider conception of formal languages so as to investigate more broadly what exactly is going on when theorists put these tools to use. She looks at the history and philosophy of formal languages and focuses on the cognitive impact of formal languages on human reasoning, drawing on their historical development, psychology, cognitive science and philosophy. Her wide-ranging study will be valuable for both students and researchers in philosophy, logic, psychology and cognitive and computer science.
The volume analyses and develops David Makinson’s efforts to make classical logic useful outside its most obvious application areas. The book contains chapters that analyse, appraise, or reshape Makinson’s work and chapters that develop themes emerging from his contributions. These are grouped into major areas to which Makinsons has made highly influential contributions and the volume in its entirety is divided into four sections, each devoted to a particular area of logic: belief change, uncertain reasoning, normative systems and the resources of classical logic. Among the contributions included in the volume, one chapter focuses on the “inferential preferential method”, i.e. the combined use of classical logic and mechanisms of preference and choice and provides examples from Makinson’s work in non-monotonic and defeasible reasoning and belief revision. One chapter offers a short autobiography by Makinson which details his discovery of modern logic, his travels across continents and reveals his intellectual encounters and inspirations. The chapter also contains an unusually explicit statement on his views on the (limited but important) role of logic in philosophy.
This book illustrates the program of Logical-Informational Dynamics. Rational agents exploit the information available in the world in delicate ways, adopt a wide range of epistemic attitudes, and in that process, constantly change the world itself. Logical-Informational Dynamics is about logical systems putting such activities at center stage, focusing on the events by which we acquire information and change attitudes. Its contributions show many current logics of information and change at work, often in multi-agent settings where social behavior is essential, and often stressing Johan van Benthem's pioneering work in establishing this program. However, this is not a Festschrift, but a rich tapestry for a field with a wealth of strands of its own. The reader will see the state of the art in such topics as information update, belief change, preference, learning over time, and strategic interaction in games. Moreover, no tight boundary has been enforced, and some chapters add more general mathematical or philosophical foundations or links to current trends in computer science. Â The theme of this book lies at the interface of many disciplines. Logic is the main methodology, but the various chapters cross easily between mathematics, computer science, philosophy, linguistics, cognitive and social sciences, while also ranging from pure theory to empirical work. Accordingly, the authors of this book represent a wide variety of original thinkers from different research communities. And their interconnected themes challenge at the same time how we think of logic, philosophy and computation. Â Thus, very much in line with van Benthem's work over many decades, the volume shows how all these disciplines form a natural unity in the perspective of dynamic logicians (broadly conceived) exploring their new themes today. And at the same time, in doing so, it offers a broader conception of logic with a certain grandeur, moving its horizons beyond the traditional study of consequence relations.
This text offers an extension to the traditional Kripke semantics for non-classical logics by adding the notion of reactivity. Reactive Kripke models change their accessibility relation as we progress in the evaluation process of formulas in the model. This feature makes the reactive Kripke semantics strictly stronger and more applicable than the traditional one. Here we investigate the properties and axiomatisations of this new and most effective semantics, and we offer a wide landscape of applications of the idea of reactivity. Applied topics include reactive automata, reactive grammars, reactive products, reactive deontic logic and reactive preferential structures. Reactive Kripke semantics is the next step in the evolution of possible world semantics for non-classical logics, and this book, written by one of the leading authorities in the field, is essential reading for graduate students and researchers in applied logic, and it offers many research opportunities for PhD students.
This book contains the proceedings of the 23rd International Workshop on Operator Theory and its Applications (IWOTA 2012), which was held at the University of New South Wales (Sydney, Australia) from 16 July to 20 July 2012. It includes twelve articles presenting both surveys of current research in operator theory and original results.
This volume presents recent advances in philosophical logic with chapters focusing on non-classical logics, including paraconsistent logics, substructural logics, modal logics of agency and other modal logics. The authors cover themes such as the knowability paradox, tableaux and sequent calculi, natural deduction, definite descriptions, identity, truth, dialetheism and possible worlds semantics. The developments presented here focus on challenging problems in the specification of fundamental philosophical notions, as well as presenting new techniques and tools, thereby contributing to the development of the field. Each chapter contains a bibliography, to assist the reader in making connections in the specific areas covered. Thus this work provides both a starting point for further investigations into philosophical logic and an update on advances, techniques and applications in a dynamic field. The chapters originate from papers presented during the Trends in Logic XI conference at the Ruhr University Bochum, June 2012.
Filling a gap in the literature, this book takes the reader to the frontiers of equivariant topology, the study of objects with specified symmetries. The discussion is motivated by reference to a list of instructive "toy" examples and calculations in what is a relatively unexplored field. The authors also provide a reading path for the first-time reader less interested in working through sophisticated machinery but still desiring a rigorous understanding of the main concepts. The subject's classical counterparts, ordinary homology and cohomology, dating back to the work of Henri Poincare in topology, are calculational and theoretical tools which are important in many parts of mathematics and theoretical physics, particularly in the study of manifolds. Similarly powerful tools have been lacking, however, in the context of equivariant topology. Aimed at advanced graduate students and researchers in algebraic topology and related fields, the book assumes knowledge of basic algebraic topology and group actions.
This series is designed to meet the needs of students and lecturers of the National Certificate Vocational. Features for the student include: Easy-to-understand language; Real-life examples; A key word feature for important subject terms; A dictionary feature for difficult words; A reflect-on-how-you-learn feature to explore personal learning styles; Workplace-oriented activities; and Chapter summaries that are useful for exam revision.
The topic of this book sits at the interface of the theory of higher categories (in the guise of ( ,1)-categories) and the theory of properads. Properads are devices more general than operads and enable one to encode bialgebraic, rather than just (co)algebraic, structures. The text extends both the Joyal-Lurie approach to higher categories and the Cisinski-Moerdijk-Weiss approach to higher operads, and provides a foundation for a broad study of the homotopy theory of properads. This work also serves as a complete guide to the generalised graphs which are pervasive in the study of operads and properads. A preliminary list of potential applications and extensions comprises the final chapter. Infinity Properads and Infinity Wheeled Properads is written for mathematicians in the fields of topology, algebra, category theory, and related areas. It is written roughly at the second year graduate level, and assumes a basic knowledge of category theory.
Few mathematical results capture the imagination like Georg Cantor's groundbreaking work on infinity in the late nineteenth century. This opened the door to an intricate axiomatic theory of sets which was born in the decades that followed. Written for the motivated novice, this book provides an overview of key ideas in set theory, bridging the gap between technical accounts of mathematical foundations and popular accounts of logic. Readers will learn of the formal construction of the classical number systems, from the natural numbers to the real numbers and beyond, and see how set theory has evolved to analyse such deep questions as the status of the continuum hypothesis and the axiom of choice. Remarks and digressions introduce the reader to some of the philosophical aspects of the subject and to adjacent mathematical topics. The rich, annotated bibliography encourages the dedicated reader to delve into what is now a vast literature.
First published in 1908 as the second edition of a 1900 original, this book explains the content of the fifth and sixth books of Euclid's Elements, which are primarily concerned with ratio and magnitudes. Hill furnishes the text with copious diagrams to illustrate key points of Euclidian reasoning. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in the history of education.
"Inspiring and informative...deserves to be widely read." -Wall Street Journal "This fun book offers a philosophical take on number systems and revels in the beauty of math." -Science News Because we have ten fingers, grouping by ten seems natural, but twelve would be better for divisibility, and eight is well suited to repeated halving. Grouping by two, as in binary code, has turned out to have its own remarkable advantages. Paul Lockhart presents arithmetic not as rote manipulation of numbers-a practical if mundane branch of knowledge best suited for filling out tax forms-but as a fascinating, sometimes surprising intellectual craft that arises from our desire to add, divide, and multiply important things. Passionate and entertaining, Arithmetic invites us to experience the beauty of mathematics through the eyes of a beguiling teacher. "A nuanced understanding of working with numbers, gently connecting procedures that we once learned by rote with intuitions long since muddled by education... Lockhart presents arithmetic as a pleasurable pastime, and describes it as a craft like knitting." -Jonathon Keats, New Scientist "What are numbers, how did they arise, why did our ancestors invent them, and how did they represent them? They are, after all, one of humankind's most brilliant inventions, arguably having greater impact on our lives than the wheel. Lockhart recounts their fascinating story... A wonderful book." -Keith Devlin, author of Finding Fibonacci
This book continues from where the authors' previous book, Structural Proof Theory, ended. It presents an extension of the methods of analysis of proofs in pure logic to elementary axiomatic systems and to what is known as philosophical logic. A self-contained brief introduction to the proof theory of pure logic is included that serves both the mathematically and philosophically oriented reader. The method is built up gradually, with examples drawn from theories of order, lattice theory and elementary geometry. The aim is, in each of the examples, to help the reader grasp the combinatorial behaviour of an axiom system, which typically leads to decidability results. The last part presents, as an application and extension of all that precedes it, a proof-theoretical approach to the Kripke semantics of modal and related logics, with a great number of new results, providing essential reading for mathematical and philosophical logicians.
Wondrous One Sheet Origami is a how-to book full of beautiful origami designs covering a wide range of folding levels from simple to high intermediate, with more emphasis on the latter. The book is meant for audiences 12 years of age and above, and children folding at higher than age level. Most of the designs are flat and suitable for mounting on cards or framing as gifts. Features * Richly illustrated full-color book with clear, crisp diagrams following international standard, and an abundance of photographs of finished models * Select designs hand-picked by the author based on social media responses * Most of the designs incorporate color-change, a technique showing both sides of paper for enhanced beauty
Clear, concise compendium of about 150 time-saving math short-cuts features faster, easier ways to add, subtract, multiply, and divide. Each problem includes an explanation of the method, a step-by-step solution, the short-cut solution, and proof, as well as an explanation of why it works. No special math ability needed.
This volume commemorates the life, work and foundational views of Kurt Goedel (1906-78), most famous for his hallmark works on the completeness of first-order logic, the incompleteness of number theory, and the consistency - with the other widely accepted axioms of set theory - of the axiom of choice and of the generalized continuum hypothesis. It explores current research, advances and ideas for future directions not only in the foundations of mathematics and logic, but also in the fields of computer science, artificial intelligence, physics, cosmology, philosophy, theology and the history of science. The discussion is supplemented by personal reflections from several scholars who knew Goedel personally, providing some interesting insights into his life. By putting his ideas and life's work into the context of current thinking and perceptions, this book will extend the impact of Goedel's fundamental work in mathematics, logic, philosophy and other disciplines for future generations of researchers.
Thoroughly revised, updated, expanded, and reorganized to serve as a primary text for mathematics courses, Introduction to Set Theory, Third Edition covers the basics: relations, functions, orderings, finite, countable, and uncountable sets, and cardinal and ordinal numbers. It also provides five additional self-contained chapters, consolidates the material on real numbers into a single updated chapter affording flexibility in course design, supplies end-of-section problems, with hints, of varying degrees of difficulty, includes new material on normal forms and Goodstein sequences, and adds important recent ideas including filters, ultrafilters, closed unbounded and stationary sets, and partitions.
Combinatorial Algebra: Syntax and Semantics provides comprehensive account of many areas of combinatorial algebra. It contains self-contained proofs of more than 20 fundamental results, both classical and modern. This includes Golod-Shafarevich and Olshanskii's solutions of Burnside problems, Shirshov's solution of Kurosh's problem for PI rings, Belov's solution of Specht's problem for varieties of rings, Grigorchuk's solution of Milnor's problem, Bass-Guivarc'h theorem about growth of nilpotent groups, Kleiman's solution of Hanna Neumann's problem for varieties of groups, Adian's solution of von Neumann-Day's problem, Trahtman's solution of the road coloring problem of Adler, Goodwyn and Weiss. The book emphasize several ``universal" tools, such as trees, subshifts, uniformly recurrent words, diagrams and automata. With over 350 exercises at various levels of difficulty and with hints for the more difficult problems, this book can be used as a textbook, and aims to reach a wide and diversified audience. No prerequisites beyond standard courses in linear and abstract algebra are required. The broad appeal of this textbook extends to a variety of student levels: from advanced high-schoolers to undergraduates and graduate students, including those in search of a Ph.D. thesis who will benefit from the "Further reading and open problems" sections at the end of Chapters 2 -5. The book can also be used for self-study, engaging those beyond t he classroom setting: researchers, instructors, students, virtually anyone who wishes to learn and better understand this important area of mathematics.
The Annual European Meeting of the Association for Symbolic Logic, also known as the Logic Colloquium, is among the most prestigious annual meetings in the field. The current volume, Logic Colloquium 2007, with contributions from plenary speakers and selected special session speakers, contains both expository and research papers by some of the best logicians in the world. This volume covers many areas of contemporary logic: model theory, proof theory, set theory, and computer science, as well as philosophical logic, including tutorials on cardinal arithmetic, on Pillay's conjecture, and on automatic structures. This volume will be invaluable for experts as well as those interested in an overview of central contemporary themes in mathematical logic.
In this new text, Steven Givant—the author of several acclaimed books, including works co-authored with Paul Halmos and Alfred Tarski—develops three theories of duality for Boolean algebras with operators. Givant addresses the two most recognized dualities (one algebraic and the other topological) and introduces a third duality, best understood as a hybrid of the first two. This text will be of interest to graduate students and researchers in the fields of mathematics, computer science, logic, and philosophy who are interested in exploring special or general classes of Boolean algebras with operators. Readers should be familiar with the basic arithmetic and theory of Boolean algebras, as well as the fundamentals of point-set topology.
This book is based on two premises: one cannot understand philosophy of mathematics without understanding mathematics and one cannot understand mathematics without doing mathematics. It draws readers into philosophy of mathematics by having them do mathematics. It offers 298 exercises, covering philosophically important material, presented in a philosophically informed way. The exercises give readers opportunities to recreate some mathematics that will illuminate important readings in philosophy of mathematics. Topics include primitive recursive arithmetic, Peano arithmetic, Gödel's theorems, interpretability, the hierarchy of sets, Frege arithmetic and intuitionist sentential logic. The book is intended for readers who understand basic properties of the natural and real numbers and have some background in formal logic.
1 Introduction.- 2 Pritchard-Salamon systems.- 3 Linear quadratic control and frequency domain inequalities.- 4 H?-control with state-feedback.- 5 H?-control with measurement-feedback.- 6 Examples and conclusions.- A Stability theory.- B Differentiability and some convergence results.- C The invariant zeros condition. |
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