The exponential-logarithmic equivalence classes of surreal numbers

In his monograph, H. Gonshor showed that Conway's real closed field of surreal numbers carries an exponential and logarithmic map. Subsequently, L. van den Dries and P. Ehrlich showed that it is a model of the elementary theory of the field of real numbers with the exponential function. In this paper, we give a complete description of the exponential equivalence classes in the spirit of the classical Archimedean and multiplicative equivalence classes. This description is made in terms of a recursive formula as well as a sign sequence formula for the family of representatives of minimal length of these exponential classes

Purposive discovery of operations

The Generate, Prune & Prove (GPP) methodology for discovering definitions of mathematical operators is introduced. GPP is a task within the IL exploration discovery system. We developed GPP for use in the discovery of mathematical operators with a wider class of representations than was possible with the previous methods by Lenat and by Shen. GPP utilizes the purpose for which an operator is created to prune the possible definitions. The relevant search spaces are immense and there exists insufficient information for a complete evaluation of the purpose constraint, so it is necessary to perform a partial evaluation of the purpose (i.e., pruning) constraint. The constraint is first transformed so that it is operational with respect to the partial information, and then it is applied to examples in order to test the generated candidates for an operator's definition. In the GPP process, once a candidate definition survives this empirical prune, it is passed on to a theorem prover for formal verification. We describe the application of this methodology to the (re)discovery of the definition of multiplication for Conway numbers, a discovery which is difficult for human mathematicians. We successfully model this discovery process utilizing information which was reasonably available at the time of Conway's original discovery. As part of this discovery process, we reduce the size of the search space from a computationally intractable size to 3468 elements

Integration on surreal numbers

The thesis concerns the (class) structure No of Conway’s surreal numbers. The main concern is the behaviour on No of some of the classical functions of real analysis, and a definition of integral for such functions. In the main texts on No, most definitions and proofs are done by transfinite recursion and induction on the complexity of elements. In the thesis I consider a general scheme of definition for functions on No, generalising those for sum, product and exponential. If a function has such a definition, and can live in a Hardy field, and satisfies some auxiliary technical conditions, one can obtain in No a substantial analogue of real analysis for that function. One example is the signchange property, and this (applied to polynomials) gives an alternative treatment of the basic fact that No is real closed. I discuss the analogue for the exponential. Using these ideas one can define a generalisation of Riemann integration (the indefinite integral falling under the recursion scheme). The new integral is linear, monotone, and satisfies integration by parts. For some classical functions (e.g. polynomials) the integral yields the traditional formulae of analysis. There are, however, anomalies for the exponential function. But one can show that the logarithm, defined as the inverse of the exponential, is the integral of 1/x as usual. Acknowledgements I wish to express my gratitude to my supervisor Angus Macintyre for his constant support and assistance. Thanks to the examiners A. Maciocia and D. Richardson for their useful suggestions. Thanks also to my colleagues and my landlord for their willingness to tolerate my company. My gratitude goes to my family for their understanding and support. I wish to thank also the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council an

The real numbers - a survey of constructions

We present a comprehensive survey of constructions of the real numbers (from either the rationals or the integers) in a unified fashion, thus providing an overview of most (if not all) known constructions ranging from the earliest attempts to recent results, and allowing for a simple comparison-at-a-glance between different constructions