Outline of mathematics

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Mathematics is a field of study that investigates topics such as number, space, structure, and change.

Contents

Philosophy

Nature

  • Classical mathematics refers generally to the mainstream approach to mathematics, which is based on classical logic and ZFC set theory.
  • Constructive mathematics asserts that it is necessary to find (or "construct") a mathematical object to prove that it exists. In classical mathematics, one can prove the existence of a mathematical object without "finding" that object explicitly, by assuming its non-existence and then deriving a contradiction from that assumption.
  • Predicative mathematics

Mathematics is

Concepts

Branches and subjects

Quantity

  • Elementary arithmetic is the part of arithmetic which deals with basic operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
  • Modular arithmetic is a system of arithmetic for integers, where numbers "wrap around" when reaching a certain value, called the modulus.
  • Second-order arithmetic is a collection of axiomatic systems that formalize the natural numbers and their subsets.
  • Peano axioms also known as the Dedekind–Peano axioms or the Peano postulates, are axioms for the natural numbers presented by the 19th century Italian mathematician Giuseppe Peano.
  • Floating-point arithmetic is arithmetic using formulaic representation of real numbers as an approximation to support a trade-off between range and precision.

Structure

Space

Change

Foundations and philosophy

Mathematical logic

Discrete mathematics

Applied mathematics

History

Regional history

Subject history

Psychology

Influential mathematicians

See Lists of mathematicians.

Mathematical notation

Classification systems

Journals and databases

See also

Related Research Articles

An axiom, postulate, or assumption is a statement that is taken to be true, to serve as a premise or starting point for further reasoning and arguments. The word comes from the Ancient Greek word ἀξίωμα (axíōma), meaning 'that which is thought worthy or fit' or 'that which commends itself as evident'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arithmetic</span> Branch of elementary mathematics

Arithmetic is an elementary branch of mathematics that studies numerical operations like addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. In a wider sense, it also includes exponentiation, extraction of roots, and taking logarithms.

Naive set theory is any of several theories of sets used in the discussion of the foundations of mathematics. Unlike axiomatic set theories, which are defined using formal logic, naive set theory is defined informally, in natural language. It describes the aspects of mathematical sets familiar in discrete mathematics, and suffices for the everyday use of set theory concepts in contemporary mathematics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Field (mathematics)</span> Algebraic structure with addition, multiplication, and division

In mathematics, a field is a set on which addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division are defined and behave as the corresponding operations on rational and real numbers. A field is thus a fundamental algebraic structure which is widely used in algebra, number theory, and many other areas of mathematics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Group (mathematics)</span> Set with associative invertible operation

In mathematics, a group is a set with an operation that satisfies the following constraints: the operation is associative and has an identity element, and every element of the set has an inverse element.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Multiplication</span> Arithmetical operation

Multiplication is one of the four elementary mathematical operations of arithmetic, with the other ones being addition, subtraction, and division. The result of a multiplication operation is called a product.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Natural number</span> Number used for counting

In mathematics, the natural numbers are the numbers 1, 2, 3, etc., possibly including 0 as well.[under discussion] Some definitions, including the standard ISO 80000-2, begin the natural numbers with 0, corresponding to the non-negative integers0, 1, 2, 3, ..., whereas others start with 1, corresponding to the positive integers1, 2, 3, ... Texts that exclude zero from the natural numbers sometimes refer to the natural numbers together with zero as the whole numbers, while in other writings, that term is used instead for the integers. In common language, particularly in primary school education, natural numbers may be called counting numbers to intuitively exclude the negative integers and zero, and also to contrast the discreteness of counting to the continuity of measurement—a hallmark characteristic of real numbers.

1 is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of unit length is a line segment of length 1. In conventions of sign where zero is considered neither positive nor negative, 1 is the first and smallest positive integer. It is also sometimes considered the first of the infinite sequence of natural numbers, followed by 2, although by other definitions 1 is the second natural number, following 0.

In mathematical logic, the Peano axioms, also known as the Dedekind–Peano axioms or the Peano postulates, are axioms for the natural numbers presented by the 19th-century Italian mathematician Giuseppe Peano. These axioms have been used nearly unchanged in a number of metamathematical investigations, including research into fundamental questions of whether number theory is consistent and complete.

In mathematics, an algebraic structure consists of a nonempty set A, a collection of operations on A, and a finite set of identities, known as axioms, that these operations must satisfy.

Foundations of mathematics is the study of the philosophical and logical and/or algorithmic basis of mathematics, or, in a broader sense, the mathematical investigation of what underlies the philosophical theories concerning the nature of mathematics. In this latter sense, the distinction between foundations of mathematics and philosophy of mathematics turns out to be vague. Foundations of mathematics can be conceived as the study of the basic mathematical concepts and how they form hierarchies of more complex structures and concepts, especially the fundamentally important structures that form the language of mathematics also called metamathematical concepts, with an eye to the philosophical aspects and the unity of mathematics. The search for foundations of mathematics is a central question of the philosophy of mathematics; the abstract nature of mathematical objects presents special philosophical challenges.

Discrete mathematics is the study of mathematical structures that are fundamentally discrete rather than continuous. In contrast to real numbers that have the property of varying "smoothly", the objects studied in discrete mathematics – such as integers, graphs, and statements in logic – do not vary smoothly in this way, but have distinct, separated values. Discrete mathematics, therefore, excludes topics in "continuous mathematics" such as calculus and analysis.

Lists of mathematics topics cover a variety of topics related to mathematics. Some of these lists link to hundreds of articles; some link only to a few. The template to the right includes links to alphabetical lists of all mathematical articles. This article brings together the same content organized in a manner better suited for browsing. Lists cover aspects of basic and advanced mathematics, methodology, mathematical statements, integrals, general concepts, mathematical objects, and reference tables. They also cover equations named after people, societies, mathematicians, journals, and meta-lists.

In mathematics, many types of algebraic structures are studied. Abstract algebra is primarily the study of specific algebraic structures and their properties. Algebraic structures may be viewed in different ways, however the common starting point of algebra texts is that an algebraic object incorporates one or more sets with one or more binary operations or unary operations satisfying a collection of axioms.

The history of mathematical notation includes the commencement, progress, and cultural diffusion of mathematical symbols and the conflict of the methods of notation confronted in a notation's move to popularity or inconspicuousness. Mathematical notation comprises the symbols used to write mathematical equations and formulas. Notation generally implies a set of well-defined representations of quantities and symbols operators. The history includes Hindu–Arabic numerals, letters from the Roman, Greek, Hebrew, and German alphabets, and a host of symbols invented by mathematicians over the past several centuries.

Algebra is the branch of mathematics that studies algebraic structures and the manipulation of statements within those structures. It is a generalization of arithmetic that introduces variables and algebraic operations other than the standard arithmetic operations such as addition and multiplication.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abstract algebra</span> Branch of mathematics

In mathematics, more specifically algebra, abstract algebra or modern algebra is the study of algebraic structures. Algebraic structures include groups, rings, fields, modules, vector spaces, lattices, and algebras over a field. The term abstract algebra was coined in the early 20th century to distinguish it from older parts of algebra, and more specifically from elementary algebra, the use of variables to represent numbers in computation and reasoning. The abstract perspective on algebra has become so fundamental to advanced mathematics that it is simply called "algebra", while the term "abstract algebra" is seldom used except in pedagogy.

Mathematics is a broad subject that is commonly divided in many areas that may be defined by their objects of study, by the used methods, or by both. For example, analytic number theory is a subarea of number theory devoted to the use of methods of analysis for the study of natural numbers.

In mathematics, equivalent definitions are used in two somewhat different ways. First, within a particular mathematical theory, a notion may have more than one definition. These definitions are equivalent in the context of a given mathematical structure. Second, a mathematical structure may have more than one definition.

References

Bibliography

Citations

  1. Bogomolny, Alexander. "Mathematics Is a Language". www.cut-the-knot.org. Retrieved 2017-05-19.

Notes

  1. For a partial list of objects, see Mathematical object.
  2. See Object and Abstract and concrete for further information on the philosophical foundations of objects.