Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Many mathematical problems have been stated but not yet solved. These problems come from many areas of mathematics, such as theoretical physics, computer science, algebra, analysis, combinatorics, algebraic, differential, discrete and Euclidean geometries, graph theory, group theory, model theory, number theory, set theory, Ramsey theory, dynamical systems, and partial differential equations.
A simple fraction (also known as a common fraction or vulgar fraction) [n 1] is a rational number written as a/b or , where a and b are both integers. [9] As with other fractions, the denominator (b) cannot be zero. Examples include 1 / 2 , − 8 / 5 , −8 / 5 , and 8 / −5 .
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 .
During the early modern period, mathematics began to develop at an accelerating pace in Western Europe, with innovations that revolutionized mathematics, such as the introduction of variables and symbolic notation by François Viète (1540–1603), the introduction of logarithms by John Napier in 1614, which greatly simplified numerical ...
German mathematician Carl Friedrich Gauss said, "Mathematics is the queen of the sciences—and number theory is the queen of mathematics." Number theory also studies the natural, or whole, numbers. One of the central concepts in number theory is that of the prime number , and there are many questions about primes that appear simple but whose ...
Modern computer algebra systems, as well as many scientific and graphing calculators, allow for "pretty-printing", that is, entry of equations such that fractions, surds and integrals, etc. are displayed in the way they would normally be written. Such calculators are generally similar in appearance to those using infix notation, but feature a ...
In mathematics education, unit fractions are often introduced earlier than other kinds of fractions, because of the ease of explaining them visually as equal parts of a whole. [ 22 ] [ 23 ] A common practical use of unit fractions is to divide food equally among a number of people, and exercises in performing this sort of fair division are a ...
Continued fractions can also be applied to problems in number theory, and are especially useful in the study of Diophantine equations. In the late eighteenth century Lagrange used continued fractions to construct the general solution of Pell's equation, thus answering a question that had fascinated mathematicians for more than a thousand years. [9]