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Universe
The Main Explorer:
Dr. Josip Derado
Kennesaw State University
1
The High-School Mathematics
Universe
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Leibnitz sequences
1 4 9 16 25 36 49 64
3 5 7 9 11 13 15
2 2 2 2 2 2
Circle
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 every 2n
number
1 4 9 16 25 36 49
Form the
cumulative
totals
From 2n to n2 !
5
Moessner’s Magic
Circle
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 every 3n
number
1 3 7 12 19 27 37 48 61 75
Form the
cumulative
1 8 27 64 125 totals
Repeat
From 3n to n3 ! the
process
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Moessner’s Magic
Circle
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 every 4n
number
1 3 6 11 17 24 33 43 54 67 81
Form the
cumulative
1 4 15 32 65 108 175 256 totals
1 16 81 256 Repeat
the
process
From 4n to n4 !
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Moessner’s Magic
Circle
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 every
triangle
number
2 6 11 18 26 35 46 58 71 85
Form the
cumulative
6 24 50 96 154 225 totals
Repeat
the
24 120 274 process
by circling
120 the last
member
of every
From triangle #s to n! Cool !!! group
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For more fun and further
reference check
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John Horton Conway
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Can you continue the following
sequence?
1
11
21
1211
111221
?????
11
Mathematical Engines:
Imagine and Explore
Euler:
What if there exists a number i such that
i i 1
Impossible, since
1 1
2
1
2
11 1 1 i i 1
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After 250 years of exploration
Today, complex numbers are applied
everywhere…
The most beautiful formula of all
mathematics:
i
e 1
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Leonhard Euler
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Are there any other numbers?
Hamilton
Quaternions a+b I +c J +d K
Octonions
Hypercomplex numbers
Surreal numbers
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Other wild things in Math
Universe
There is a positive
number which is so
small that
=0
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Other wild things in Math
Universe
The Pea and Sun
Theorem
(Banach – Tarski
paradox)
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Other wild things in Math
Universe
Borsuk-Ulam
Theorem
At any instant there
are two antipodal
points on earth which
have the same
temperature.
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Other wild things in Math
Universe
Brower’s
Fixed point
Theorem
Coffee version - Gently stir coffee in a cup. Let it sit until it stops
moving. The fixed point theorem says that there is always one coffee
“particle” which is at the same position where it started.
Crumbled paper - Suppose there are two sheets of paper, one lying
directly on top of the other. Take the top sheet, crumple it up, and put
it back on top of the other sheet. Brouwer's theorem says that there
must be at least one point on the top sheet that is in exactly the same
position relative the bottom sheet as it was originally.
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The Sampling Theorem
If a continuous function is band-limited,
i.e., contains only frequencies within a
bandwidth then it is completely
determined by its values at a series of
points equally spaced less than 1/(2 x E.C. Shannon
bandwidth) apart.
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Other wild things in Math
Universe
Goedel
Self-referencing
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Other wild things in Math
Universe
The unexpected hanging
A judge tells a condemned prisoner that he will be hanged at noon on one day in the
following week but that the execution will be a surprise to the prisoner. He will not know
the day of the hanging until the executioner knocks on his cell door at noon that day.
Having reflected on his sentence, the prisoner draws the conclusion that he will escape
from the hanging. His reasoning is in several parts. He begins by concluding that if the
hanging were on Friday then it would not be a surprise, since he would know by
Thursday night that he was to be hanged the following day, as it would be the only day
left. Since the judge's sentence stipulated that the hanging would be a surprise to him,
he concludes it cannot occur on Friday.
He then reasons that the hanging cannot be on Thursday either, because that day would
also not be a surprise. On Wednesday night he would know that, with two days left (one
of which he already knows cannot be execution day), the hanging should be expected on
the following day.
By similar reasoning he concludes that the hanging can also not occur on Wednesday,
Tuesday or Monday. Joyfully he retires to his cell confident that the hanging will not occur
at all.
The next week, the executioner knocks on the prisoner's door at noon on Wednesday —
an utter surprise to him. Everything the judge said has come true. 22
Why a French clockmaker has
never learned to add fractions?
Achille a b ab
Brocost tree
c d cd
23
Further References
24
Paul Erdős :
A cocktail Party problem
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Paul Erdős :
A cocktail Party problem
Answer: 6
27
Reference
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Other open problems
3 x + 1 puzzle
3x 1
2 , if x is odd
T ( x)
x
, if x is even
2
Conjecture: if you start with any positive integer number x and
iteratively apply T(x), you will reach 1 at some point.
30
Recent Results
Andrew Wiles proved
Fermat’s Last Theorem:
There are no non-zero
integer solutions of
x y z
n n n
for n > 2.
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Recent Results
Terence Tao, Brian
Green(2004):
The sequence of prime
numbers contains
arbitrarily long arithmetic
progressions. In other
words, for any natural
number k, there exist k-
term arithmetic
progressions of primes. Terence Tao – Fields Medal 2006
Twin prime conjecture: There are infinitely many integers p such that p
and p+2 are both primes.
32
Recent Results
The Poincare Conjecture
Proven !!?!
The Poincare Conjecture
says that a three-
dimensional sphere is the
Dr. Grigori Perelman
only enclosed three- Fields medalist 2006
dimensional space with
no holes.
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And we are back
OOOps, sorry!!! 34
Now we are back!