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In mathematics, Euler's identity [note 1] (also known as Euler's equation) is the equality + = where e {\displaystyle e} is Euler's number , the base of natural logarithms , i {\displaystyle i} is the imaginary unit , which by definition satisfies i 2 = − 1 {\displaystyle i^{2}=-1} , and
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 .
In 1840, Liouville published a proof of the fact that e 2 is irrational [10] followed by a proof that e 2 is not a root of a second-degree polynomial with rational coefficients. [11] This last fact implies that e 4 is irrational. His proofs are similar to Fourier's proof of the irrationality of e.
The mathematical constant e can be represented in a variety of ways as a real number.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.
Euler, in the eighteenth century, was probably the first person to define transcendental numbers in the modern sense. [9] Johann Heinrich Lambert conjectured that e and π were both transcendental numbers in his 1768 paper proving the number π is irrational, and proposed a tentative sketch proof that π is transcendental. [10]
The formula is still valid if x is a complex number, and is also called Euler's formula in this more general case. [1] 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]
In 1736, Leonhard Euler published a proof of Fermat's little theorem [1] (stated by Fermat without proof), which is the restriction of Euler's theorem to the case where n is a prime number. Subsequently, Euler presented other proofs of the theorem, culminating with his paper of 1763, in which he proved a generalization to the case where n is ...
Jordan Bell (2005). "Euler and the pentagonal number theorem". arXiv: math.HO/0510054. On Euler's Pentagonal Theorem at MathPages; OEIS sequence A000041 (a(n) = number of partitions of n (the partition numbers)) De mirabilis proprietatibus numerorum pentagonalium at Scholarly Commons.