Notes

Russell’s paradox

In the foundations of mathematics, Russell’s paradox (also known as Russell’s antinomy), discovered by Bertrand Russell in 1901, showed that some attempted formalizations of the naïve set theory created by Georg Cantor led to a contradiction. The same paradox had been discovered in 1899 by Ernst Zermelo but he did not publish the idea, which remained known only to David Hilbert, Edmund Husserl, and other members of the University of Göttingen. At the end of the 1890s Cantor himself had already realized that his definition would lead to a contradiction, which he told Hilbert and Richard Dedekind by letter.

According to naive set theory, any definable collection is a set. Let R be the set of all sets that are not members of themselves. If R is not a member of itself, then its definition dictates that it must contain itself, and if it contains itself, then it contradicts its own definition as the set of all sets that are not members of themselves.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russell%27s_paradox

Principia Mathematica

The Principia Mathematica (often abbreviated PM) is a three-volume work on the foundations of mathematics written by Alfred North Whitehead and Bertrand Russell and published in 1910, 1912, and 1913. In 1925–27, it appeared in a second edition with an important Introduction to the Second Edition, an Appendix A that replaced ✸9 and all-new Appendix B and Appendix C. PM is not to be confused with Russell’s 1903 The Principles of Mathematics. PM was originally conceived as a sequel volume to Russell’s 1903 Principles, but as PM states, this became an unworkable suggestion for practical and philosophical reasons: “The present work was originally intended by us to be comprised in a second volume of Principles of Mathematics… But as we advanced, it became increasingly evident that the subject is a very much larger one than we had supposed; moreover on many fundamental questions which had been left obscure and doubtful in the former work, we have now arrived at what we believe to be satisfactory solutions.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principia_Mathematica

Hilbert’s program

In mathematics, Hilbert’s program, formulated by German mathematician David Hilbert in the early part of the 20th century, was a proposed solution to the foundational crisis of mathematics, when early attempts to clarify the foundations of mathematics were found to suffer from paradoxes and inconsistencies. As a solution, Hilbert proposed to ground all existing theories to a finite, complete set of axioms, and provide a proof that these axioms were consistent. Hilbert proposed that the consistency of more complicated systems, such as real analysis, could be proven in terms of simpler systems. Ultimately, the consistency of all of mathematics could be reduced to basic arithmetic.

Gödel’s incompleteness theorems, published in 1931, showed that Hilbert’s program was unattainable for key areas of mathematics. In his first theorem, Gödel showed that any consistent system with a computable set of axioms which is capable of expressing arithmetic can never be complete: it is possible to construct a statement that can be shown to be true, but that cannot be derived from the formal rules of the system. In his second theorem, he showed that such a system could not prove its own consistency, so it certainly cannot be used to prove the consistency of anything stronger with certainty. This refuted Hilbert’s assumption that a finitistic system could be used to prove the consistency of itself, and therefore anything else.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hilbert%27s_program

Abel Prize

The Abel Prize /ˈɑːbəl/ (NorwegianAbelprisen) is a Norwegian prize awarded annually by the King of Norway to one or more outstanding mathematicians. It is named after Norwegian mathematician Niels Henrik Abel (1802–1829) and directly modeled after the Nobel Prizes. It comes with a monetary award of 7.5 million Norwegian Kroner (NOK).

The Abel Prize’s history dates back to 1899, when its establishment was proposed by the Norwegian mathematician Sophus Lie when he learned that Alfred Nobel‘s plans for annual prizes would not include a prize in mathematics. In 1902, King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway indicated his willingness to finance a mathematics prize to complement the Nobel Prizes, but the establishment of the prize was prevented by the dissolution of the union between Norway and Sweden in 1905. It took almost a century before the prize was finally established by the Government of Norway in 2001, and it was specifically intended “to give the mathematicians their own equivalent of a Nobel Prize.” The laureates are selected by the Abel Committee, the members of which are appointed by the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters.

The award ceremony takes place in the Aula of the University of Oslo, where the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded between 1947 and 1989. The Abel Prize board has also established an Abel symposium, administered by the Norwegian Mathematical Society.

Source: Abel Prize – Wikipedia

Modularity theorem

The modularity theorem (formerly called the Taniyama–Shimura conjecture) states that elliptic curves over the field of rational numbers are related to modular forms. Andrew Wiles proved the modularity theorem for semistable elliptic curves, which was enough to imply Fermat’s last theorem. Later, Christophe Breuil, Brian Conrad, Fred Diamond and Richard Taylor extended Wiles’ techniques to prove the full modularity theorem in 2001.

Source: Modularity theorem – Wikipedia

SymPy

SymPy is a Python library for symbolic computation. It provides computer algebra capabilities either as a standalone application, as a library to other applications, or live on the web as SymPy Live or SymPy Gamma. SymPy is simple to install and to inspect because it is written entirely in Python with few dependencies.[2][3][4] This ease of access combined with a simple and extensible code base in a well known language make SymPy a computer algebra system with a relatively low barrier to entry.

SymPy includes features ranging from basic symbolic arithmetic to calculus, algebra, discrete mathematics and quantum physics. It is capable of formatting the result of the computations as LaTeX code.[2][3]

SymPy is free software and is licensed under New BSD License. The lead developers are Ondřej Čertík and Aaron Meurer.

Source: SymPy – Wikipedia

Q.E.D. – Wikipedia

Q.E.D. or QED (sometimes italicized) is an initialism of the Latin phrase “quod erat demonstrandum”, literally meaning “what was to be shown”.[1] Traditionally, the abbreviation is placed at the end of a mathematical proof or philosophical argument to indicate that the proof or argument is complete, therefore used with the meaning “thus it has been demonstrated”.

Source: Q.E.D. – Wikipedia

Standing on the shoulders of giants

The metaphor of dwarfs standing on the shoulders of giants (Latin: nanos gigantum humeris insidentes) expresses the meaning of “discovering truth by building on previous discoveries”. This concept has been traced to the 12th century, attributed to Bernard of Chartres. Its most familiar expression in English is by Isaac Newton in 1675: “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of Giants.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standing_on_the_shoulders_of_giants

Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica

Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (Latin for Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy), often referred to as simply the Principia (/prɪnˈsɪpiə, prɪnˈkɪpiə/), is a work in three books by Isaac Newton, in Latin, first published 5 July 1687. After annotating and correcting his personal copy of the first edition, Newton published two further editions, in 1713 and 1726. The Principia states Newton’s laws of motion, forming the foundation of classical mechanics; Newton’s law of universal gravitation; and a derivation of Kepler’s laws of planetary motion (which Kepler first obtained empirically).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophi%C3%A6_Naturalis_Principia_Mathematica

Reddit – math – Does anyone use Latin abbreviations other than QED (i.e. QEI, QEA, QEF)

Does anyone use Latin abbreviations other than QED (i.e. QEI, QEA, QEF)

  • QEI : Quod Erat Inveniendum (which was to be found)
  • QEA : Quod Est Absurdum (which is absurd)
  • QEF : Quod Erat Faciendum (which was to be done)

Do you just not use any of them and use the tombstone?

Does anyone use Latin abbreviations other than QED (i.e. QEI, QEA, QEF) from math