Roots to Research: A Vertical Development of Mathematical Problems

Judith D Sally;Paul J Sally Jr

ISBN: 9780821887257 | Year: 2012 | Paperback | Pages: 352 | Language : English

Book Size: 180 x 240 mm | Territorial Rights: Restricted

Price: 1700.00

About the Book

Certain contemporary mathematical problems are of particular interest to teachers and students because their origin lies in mathematics covered in the elementary school curriculum and their development can be traced through high school, college, and university level mathematics. This book is intended to provide a source for the mathematics (from beginning to advanced) needed to understand the emergence and evolution of five of these problems: The Four Numbers Problem, Rational Right Triangles, Lattice Point Geometry, Rational Approximation, and Dissection.

Each chapter begins with the elementary geometry and number theory at the source of the problem, and proceeds (with the exception of the first problem) to a discussion of important results in current research. The introduction to each chapter summarizes the contents of its various sections, as well as the background required.

The book is intended for students and teachers of mathematics from high school through graduate school. It should also be of interest to working mathematicians who are curious about mathematical results in fields other than their own. It can be used by teachers at all of the above mentioned levels for the enhancement of standard curriculum materials or extra-curricular projects.

Contributors (Author(s), Editor(s), Translator(s), Illustrator(s) etc.)

Judith D. Sally, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, and Paul J. Sally, Jr., University of Chicago, IL

Table of Content

The Four Numbers Problem

Introduction
The Four Numbers Game Rule
Symmetry and the Four Numbers Game
Does Every Four Numbers Game Have Finite Length?
Games With Length Independent of the Size of the Numbers
Long Games
Some Formal Notation
Constructing Long Games
The Tribonacci Games
Computation of L(Tn)
Upper Bounds for Lengths of Games
The Length of the Four Real Numbers Game
Linear Algebra Comes Into Play
Construction of a Four Numbers Game of Infinite Length
Construction of All Four Numbers Games of Infinite Length
The Probability that a Four Numbers Game Ends in n Steps
The k-Numbers Game
Bibliography
Rational Right Triangles and the Congruent Number Problem
Introduction
Right Triangles
Pythagorean Triples
Sums of Squares
The Two Squares Theorem
Characterization of the Length of the Hypotenuse of an Integer Right Triangle
The Number of Representations of n as a Sum of Two Squares
Rational Right Triangles
Congruent Numbers
Equivalent Definitions of Congruent Number
1, 2, and 3 Are Not Congruent Numbers
Rational Right Triangles and Certain Cubic Curves
Elliptic Curves
The Abelian Group of Rational Points on an Elliptic Curve
En(Q) and Congruent Numbers
Bibliography
Lattice Point Geometry
Introduction
Geometric Shapes as Lattice Polygons
Properties of Lattice Polygons in the Plane
Embedding Regular Polygons in a Lattice
Regular Lattice n-gons
Which Positive Integers Are Areas of Lattice Squares?
Basic Algebraic and Geometric Tools
Dissection of a Lattice Polygon Into Lattice Triangles
The Algebraic Structure of the Lattice Z2
The Isometry Group of a Lattice
Pick’s Theorem
First Proof
From Euler to Pick
Visible Lattice Points
Pick’s Theorem for nP
Applications of Pick’s Theorem
Lattice Triangles T with I(T) = 0 and 1
Farey Sequences
Lattice Points In and On a Circle
Integer Points in Bounded Convex Regions in R2
Convex Plane Regions and Integer Points
An Application of Pick’s Theorem to Bounded Convex Regions
Minkowski’s Theorem in R2
Embedding Regular Plane Polygons as Lattice Polygons in Rk
Lattice Hypercubes
Minkowski’s Theorem in Rk
Ehrhart’s Theorem
Convex Polytopes
Ehrhart’s Theorem for a k-Simplex
The Coefficients of the Ehrhart Polynomial
Bibliography
Rational Approximation
Introduction
Introduction to Approximation Theory
Properties of Rational Numbers Close to a Real Number
An Interesting Example, Part I
Dirichlet’s Theorem
An Interesting Example, Part II
Hurwitz’s Theorem
Liouville’s Theorem
Statement and Proofs of Liouville’s Theorem
Liouville’s Theorem and Transcendental Numbers
The Thue-Siegel-Roth Theorem
Introduction
Thue’s Theorem
Roth’s Theorem
The Approximation Exponent
An Interesting Example, Part III
An Application to Diophantine Equations
What About Transcendental Numbers?
Bibliography
Dissection
Introduction
Dissection and Area
Basic Properties of Dissection
Polygons of Equal Area
Dissection in Three Dimensions
The Angles of a Polyhedron
The Dehn Invariant
A Solution of Hilbert’s Third Problem
Congruence by Finite Decomposition and Equidecomposability
Hausdorff’s Paradox
The Banach-Tarski Paradox
Equidissectability and Equidecomposability
Squaring the Circle
Borsuk’s Problem
Borsuk’s Conjecture in the Plane
Borsuk’s Conjecture in R3
Closed Convex Sets with Smooth Boundary
Bibliography
Appendix A. Volume
Appendix. Bibliography
Appendix B. Convexity
Appendix. Bibliography
Index

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