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In logic, proof by contradiction is a form of proof that establishes the truth or the validity of a proposition by showing that assuming the proposition to be false leads to a contradiction. Although it is quite freely used in mathematical proofs, not every school of mathematical thought accepts this kind of nonconstructive proof as universally ...
The expression "mathematical proof" is used by lay people to refer to using mathematical methods or arguing with mathematical objects, such as numbers, to demonstrate something about everyday life, or when data used in an argument is numerical. It is sometimes also used to mean a "statistical proof" (below), especially when used to argue from data.
The proof was completed by Werner Ballmann about 50 years later. Littlewood–Richardson rule. Robinson published an incomplete proof in 1938, though the gaps were not noticed for many years. The first complete proofs were given by Marcel-Paul Schützenberger in 1977 and Thomas in 1974. Class numbers of imaginary quadratic fields.
Fermat's little theorem and some proofs; Gödel's completeness theorem and its original proof; Mathematical induction and a proof; Proof that 0.999... equals 1; Proof that 22/7 exceeds π; Proof that e is irrational; Proof that π is irrational; Proof that the sum of the reciprocals of the primes diverges
In mathematics, a proof by infinite descent, also known as Fermat's method of descent, is a particular kind of proof by contradiction [1] used to show that a statement cannot possibly hold for any number, by showing that if the statement were to hold for a number, then the same would be true for a smaller number, leading to an infinite descent and ultimately a contradiction. [2]
Reductio ad absurdum, painting by John Pettie exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1884. In logic, reductio ad absurdum (Latin for "reduction to absurdity"), also known as argumentum ad absurdum (Latin for "argument to absurdity") or apagogical arguments, is the form of argument that attempts to establish a claim by showing that the opposite scenario would lead to absurdity or contradiction.
Pages which contain only proofs (of claims made in other articles) should be placed in the subcategory Category:Article proofs. Pages which contain theorems and their proofs should be placed in the subcategory Category:Articles containing proofs. Articles related to automatic theorem proving should be placed in Category:Automated theorem proving.
Gödel's original proofs of the incompleteness theorems, like most mathematical proofs, were written in natural language intended for human readers. Computer-verified proofs of versions of the first incompleteness theorem were announced by Natarajan Shankar in 1986 using Nqthm ( Shankar 1994 ), by Russell O'Connor in 2003 using Coq ( O'Connor ...