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The number e is a mathematical constant approximately equal to 2.71828 that is the base of the natural logarithm and exponential function.It is sometimes called Euler's number, after the Swiss mathematician Leonhard Euler, though this can invite confusion with Euler numbers, or with Euler's constant, a different constant typically denoted .
Euler's identity is a direct result of Euler's formula, published in his monumental 1748 work of mathematical analysis, Introductio in analysin infinitorum, [16] but it is questionable whether the particular concept of linking five fundamental constants in a compact form can be attributed to Euler himself, as he may never have expressed it.
Since e is an irrational number (see proof that e is irrational), it cannot be represented as the quotient of two integers, but it can be represented as a continued fraction. Using calculus, e may also be represented as an infinite series, infinite product, or other types of limit of a sequence.
Euler's formula is ubiquitous in mathematics, physics, chemistry, and engineering. The physicist Richard Feynman called the equation "our jewel" and "the most remarkable formula in mathematics". [2] When x = π, Euler's formula may be rewritten as e iπ + 1 = 0 or e iπ = −1, which is known as Euler's identity.
Letting the number of time intervals per year grow without bound leads to the limit definition of the exponential function, = (+) first given by Leonhard Euler. [ 4 ] Differential equations
Euler's constant (sometimes called ... [47] If e γ is a rational number, ... Other interesting limits equaling Euler's constant are the antisymmetric limit: [56]
This last fact implies that e 4 is irrational. His proofs are similar to Fourier's proof of the irrationality of e. In 1891, Hurwitz explained how it is possible to prove along the same line of ideas that e is not a root of a third-degree polynomial with rational coefficients, which implies that e 3 is irrational. [12]
A mathematical constant is a key number whose value is fixed by an unambiguous definition, often referred to by a symbol (e.g., an alphabet letter), or by mathematicians' names to facilitate using it across multiple mathematical problems. [1]