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A law of trichotomy on some set X of numbers usually expresses that some tacitly given ordering relation on X is a trichotomous one. An example is the law "For arbitrary real numbers x and y, exactly one of x < y, y < x, or x = y applies"; some authors even fix y to be zero, [1] relying on the real number's additive linearly ordered group structure.
The signum function of a real number is a piecewise function which is defined as follows: [1] := {<, =, > The law of trichotomy states that every real number must be positive, negative or zero. The signum function denotes which unique category a number falls into by mapping it to one of the values −1 , +1 or 0, which can then be used in ...
A trichotomy can refer to: Law of trichotomy, a mathematical law that every real number is either positive, negative, or zero Trichotomy theorem, in finite group theory; Trichotomy (jazz trio), Australian jazz band, collaborators with Danny Widdicombe on a 2019 album; Trichotomy (philosophy), series of three terms used by various thinkers
A convex set in a poset P is a subset I of P with the property that, for any x and y in I and any z in P, if x ≤ z ≤ y, then z is also in I. This definition generalizes the definition of intervals of real numbers. When there is possible confusion with convex sets of geometry, one uses order-convex instead of "convex".
This does not violate trichotomy as long as a consistent total order is adopted: either −0 = +0 or −0 < +0 is valid. Common floating point types, however, have an exception to trichotomy: there is a special value "NaN" (Not a Number) such that x < NaN, x > NaN, and x = NaN are all false for all floating-point values x (including NaN itself).
The constructive theory of the real numbers is the prototypical example where the pseudo-order formulation becomes crucial. A real number is less than another if there exists (one can construct) a rational number greater than the former and less than the latter. In other words, here x < y holds if there exists a rational number z such that x ...
The theory of the natural numbers with a successor function is complete and decidable, and is κ-categorical for uncountable κ but not for countable κ. Presburger arithmetic is the theory of the natural numbers under addition, with signature consisting of a constant 0, a unary function S, and a binary function +. It is complete and decidable.
Similarly, every cut of reals is identical to the cut produced by a specific real number (which can be identified as the smallest element of the B set). In other words, the number line where every real number is defined as a Dedekind cut of rationals is a complete continuum without any further gaps.