73 research outputs found
Recurrent proofs of the irrationality of certain trigonometric values
We use recurrences of integrals to give new and elementary proofs of the
irrationality of pi, tan(r) for all nonzero rational r, and cos(r) for all
nonzero rational r^2. Immediate consequences to other values of the elementary
transcendental functions are also discussed
Irrationality proofs \`a la Hermite
As rewards of reading two great papers of Hermite from 1873, we trace the
historical origin of the integral Niven used in his well-known proof of the
irrationality of , uncover a rarely acknowledged simple proof by Hermite
of the irrationality of , give a new proof of the irrationality of
for nonzero rational , and generalize it to a proof of the
irrationality of certain ratios of Bessel functions.Comment: 8 page
Polyhedral billiards, eigenfunction concentration and almost periodic control
We study dynamical properties of the billiard flow on convex polyhedra away
from a neighbourhood of the non-smooth part of the boundary, called
``pockets''. We prove there are only finitely many immersed periodic tubes
missing the pockets and moreover establish a new quantitative estimate for the
lengths of such tubes. This extends well-known results in dimension . We
then apply these dynamical results to prove a quantitative Laplace
eigenfunction mass concentration near the pockets of convex polyhedral
billiards. As a technical tool for proving our concentration results on
irrational polyhedra, we establish a control-theoretic estimate on a product
space with an almost-periodic boundary condition. This extends previously known
control estimates for periodic boundary conditions, and seems to be of
independent interest.Comment: 32 pages, a few sections reorganised and a few results adde
Lambert’s proof of the irrationality of Pi: Context and translation
This document gives the first complete English translation of Johann Heinrich Lambert’s memoir on the irrationality of Pi published in 1768, as well as some contextual elements, such as Legendre’s proof and more recent proofs such as Niven’s
The Cycle of Rents: a Model of Rational Bull-and-Bear Cycles in an Efficient Market
A widespread misbelief asserts that an efficient market would arbitrage out any cyclical or otherwise partially-predictable, non-random-walk pattern on the observed market prices time series. Hence, when such patterns are observed, they are often attributed to either irrational behavior or market inefficiency. Yet, strictly speaking, the efficient markets hypothesis only rules such patterns out of the expected (i.e. mean) path, whereas, if the probability diffusion process is asymmetric (as in most economic and financial stochastic models), the observed time series will approximate the median path, which is not subject to such constraint. This paper combines a general imperfect-competition production function specification (i.e. one generating economic rents) with the concept of time-to-build to develop a rational-expectations, efficient-markets model displaying a valuation cycle along its median path. This model may therefore help to explain the bull-and-bear cycles observed in asset markets generating economic rents e.g. real estate, commodities or, for that matter, most if not all of the assets quoted in the stock exchange
Complex numbers from 1600 to 1840
This thesis uses primary and secondary sources to study advances in complex number theory during the 17th and 18th Centuries. Some space is also given to the early 19th Century. Six questions concerning their rules of operation, usage, symbolism, nature, representation and attitudes to them are posed in the Introduction. The main part of the thesis quotes from the works of Descartes, Newton, Wallis,
Saunderson, Maclaurin, d'Alembert, Euler, Waring, Frend, Hutton, Arbogast, de Missery, Argand, Cauchy, Hamilton, de Morgan, Sylvester and others, mainly in chronological order, with comment and discussion. More attention has been given tp algebraists, the originators of most advances in complex numbers, than to writers in trigonometry, calculus and analysis, who tended to be users of them. The last chapter summarises the most important points and considers the extent to which the six questions have been resolved. The most important developments during the period are identified as follows:
(i) the advance in status of complex numbers from 'useless' to
'useful'.
(ii) their interpretation by Wallis, Argand and Gauss in arithmetic, geometric and algebraic ways.
(iii) the discovery that they are essential for understanding
polynomials and logarithmic, exponential and trigonometric
functions.
(iv) the extension of trigonometry, calculus and analysis into
the complex number field.
(v) the discovery that complex numbers are closed under exponentiation, and so under all algebraic operations.
(vi) partial reform of nomenclature and symbolism.
(vii) the eventual extension of complex number theory to n dimensions
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