Birth of a Theorem

Birth of a Theorem
Author: Cédric Villani
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
Total Pages: 260
Release: 2015-04-14
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0374710236

In 2010, French mathematician Cédric Villani received the Fields Medal, the most coveted prize in mathematics, in recognition of a proof which he devised with his close collaborator Clément Mouhot to explain one of the most surprising theories in classical physics. Birth of aTheorem is Villani's own account of the years leading up to the award. It invites readers inside the mind of a great mathematician as he wrestles with the most important work of his career. But you don't have to understand nonlinear Landau damping to love Birth of aTheorem. It doesn't simplify or overexplain; rather, it invites readers into collaboration. Villani's diaries, emails, and musings enmesh you in the process of discovery. You join him in unproductive lulls and late-night breakthroughs. You're privy to the dining-hall conversations at the world's greatest research institutions. Villani shares his favorite songs, his love of manga, and the imaginative stories he tells his children. In mathematics, as in any creative work, it is the thinker's whole life that propels discovery—and with Birth of aTheorem, Cédric Villani welcomes you into his.

Emmy Noether's Wonderful Theorem

Emmy Noether's Wonderful Theorem
Author: Dwight E. Neuenschwander
Publisher: JHU Press
Total Pages: 338
Release: 2017-04-01
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1421422689

One of the most important—and beautiful—mathematical solutions ever devised, Noether’s theorem touches on every aspect of physics. "In the judgment of the most competent living mathematicians, Fräulein Noether was the most significant creative mathematical genius thus far produced since the higher education of women began."—Albert Einstein The year was 1915, and the young mathematician Emmy Noether had just settled into Göttingen University when Albert Einstein visited to lecture on his nearly finished general theory of relativity. Two leading mathematicians of the day, David Hilbert and Felix Klein, dug into the new theory with gusto, but had difficulty reconciling it with what was known about the conservation of energy. Knowing of her expertise in invariance theory, they requested Noether’s help. To solve the problem, she developed a novel theorem, applicable across all of physics, which relates conservation laws to continuous symmetries—one of the most important pieces of mathematical reasoning ever developed. Noether’s “first” and “second” theorem was published in 1918. The first theorem relates symmetries under global spacetime transformations to the conservation of energy and momentum, and symmetry under global gauge transformations to charge conservation. In continuum mechanics and field theories, these conservation laws are expressed as equations of continuity. The second theorem, an extension of the first, allows transformations with local gauge invariance, and the equations of continuity acquire the covariant derivative characteristic of coupled matter-field systems. General relativity, it turns out, exhibits local gauge invariance. Noether’s theorem also laid the foundation for later generations to apply local gauge invariance to theories of elementary particle interactions. In Dwight E. Neuenschwander’s new edition of Emmy Noether’s Wonderful Theorem, readers will encounter an updated explanation of Noether’s “first” theorem. The discussion of local gauge invariance has been expanded into a detailed presentation of the motivation, proof, and applications of the “second” theorem, including Noether’s resolution of concerns about general relativity. Other refinements in the new edition include an enlarged biography of Emmy Noether’s life and work, parallels drawn between the present approach and Noether’s original 1918 paper, and a summary of the logic behind Noether’s theorem.

The Pythagorean Theorem

The Pythagorean Theorem
Author: Eli Maor
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 284
Release: 2019-11-19
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 0691196885

Frontmatter --Contents --List of Color Plates --Preface --Prologue: Cambridge, England, 1993 --1. Mesopotamia, 1800 BCE --Sidebar 1: Did the Egyptians Know It? --2. Pythagoras --3. Euclid's Elements --Sidebar 2: The Pythagorean Theorem in Art, Poetry, and Prose --4. Archimedes --5. Translators and Commentators, 500-1500 CE --6. François Viète Makes History --7. From the Infinite to the Infinitesimal --Sidebar 3: A Remarkable Formula by Euler --8. 371 Proofs, and Then Some --Sidebar 4: The Folding Bag --Sidebar 5: Einstein Meets Pythagoras --Sidebar 6: A Most Unusual Proof --9. A Theme and Variations --Sidebar 7: A Pythagorean Curiosity --Sidebar 8: A Case of Overuse --10. Strange Coordinates --11. Notation, Notation, Notation --12. From Flat Space to Curved Spacetime --Sidebar 9: A Case of Misuse --13. Prelude to Relativity --14. From Bern to Berlin, 1905-1915 --Sidebar 10: Four Pythagorean Brainteasers --15. But Is It Universal? --16. Afterthoughts --Epilogue: Samos, 2005 --Appendixes --Chronology --Bibliography --Illustrations Credits --Index.

The Prime Number Theorem

The Prime Number Theorem
Author: G. J. O. Jameson
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 266
Release: 2003-04-17
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 9780521891103

At first glance the prime numbers appear to be distributed in a very irregular way amongst the integers, but it is possible to produce a simple formula that tells us (in an approximate but well defined sense) how many primes we can expect to find that are less than any integer we might choose. The prime number theorem tells us what this formula is and it is indisputably one of the great classical theorems of mathematics. This textbook gives an introduction to the prime number theorem suitable for advanced undergraduates and beginning graduate students. The author's aim is to show the reader how the tools of analysis can be used in number theory to attack a 'real' problem, and it is based on his own experiences of teaching this material.

The Implicit Function Theorem

The Implicit Function Theorem
Author: Steven G. Krantz
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 168
Release: 2012-11-26
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN: 1461200598

The implicit function theorem is part of the bedrock of mathematical analysis and geometry. Finding its genesis in eighteenth century studies of real analytic functions and mechanics, the implicit and inverse function theorems have now blossomed into powerful tools in the theories of partial differential equations, differential geometry, and geometric analysis. There are many different forms of the implicit function theorem, including (i) the classical formulation for C^k functions, (ii) formulations in other function spaces, (iii) formulations for non- smooth functions, (iv) formulations for functions with degenerate Jacobian. Particularly powerful implicit function theorems, such as the Nash--Moser theorem, have been developed for specific applications (e.g., the imbedding of Riemannian manifolds). All of these topics, and many more, are treated in the present volume. The history of the implicit function theorem is a lively and complex story, and is intimately bound up with the development of fundamental ideas in analysis and geometry. This entire development, together with mathematical examples and proofs, is recounted for the first time here. It is an exciting tale, and it continues to evolve. "The Implicit Function Theorem" is an accessible and thorough treatment of implicit and inverse function theorems and their applications. It will be of interest to mathematicians, graduate/advanced undergraduate students, and to those who apply mathematics. The book unifies disparate ideas that have played an important role in modern mathematics. It serves to document and place in context a substantial body of mathematical ideas.

The Metaphysics of the Pythagorean Theorem

The Metaphysics of the Pythagorean Theorem
Author: Robert Hahn
Publisher: State University of New York Press
Total Pages: 301
Release: 2017-05-01
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 1438464916

Bringing together geometry and philosophy, this book undertakes a strikingly original study of the origins and significance of the Pythagorean theorem. Thales, whom Aristotle called the first philosopher and who was an older contemporary of Pythagoras, posited the principle of a unity from which all things come, and back into which they return upon dissolution. He held that all appearances are only alterations of this basic unity and there can be no change in the cosmos. Such an account requires some fundamental geometric figure out of which appearances are structured. Robert Hahn argues that Thales came to the conclusion that it was the right triangle: by recombination and repackaging, all alterations can be explained from that figure. This idea is central to what the discovery of the Pythagorean theorem could have meant to Thales and Pythagoras in the sixth century BCE. With more than two hundred illustrations and figures, Hahn provides a series of geometric proofs for this lost narrative, tracing it from Thales to Pythagoras and the Pythagoreans who followed, and then finally to Plato's Timaeus. Uncovering the philosophical motivation behind the discovery of the theorem, Hahn's book will enrich the study of ancient philosophy and mathematics alike.

The Last Theorem

The Last Theorem
Author: Arthur C. Clarke
Publisher: HarperCollins UK
Total Pages: 23
Release: 2008-12-07
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0007308140

The final work from the brightest star in science fiction’s galaxy. Arthur C Clarke, who predicted the advent of communication satellites and author of 2001: A Space Odyssey completes a lifetime career in science fiction with a masterwork.

Complex Integration and Cauchy's Theorem

Complex Integration and Cauchy's Theorem
Author: G. N. Watson
Publisher:
Total Pages: 100
Release: 1914
Genre: Mathematics
ISBN:

Originally published in 1914, this book provides a concise proof of Cauchy's Theorem, with applications of the theorem to the evaluation of definite integrals.