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greatest common divisor – integration
greatest common divisor
The greatest common divisor of two natural numbers a and b is the largest natural number c such that c divides a and c divides b.
greatest lower bound
A lower bound which is greater than or equal to every other lower bound.
Cf. Least upper bound.
Greek
ARTICLE
Letters of the Greek alphabet are commonly used in mathematics. See the article for a full description.
harmonic series
The infinite series whose terms are the reciprocals of the natural numbers
This series diverges, i.e., the sum does not exist.
Related article: Series
hyperbola
The locus of points in the plane, the difference of whose distances from two fixed points, called the foci, remains constant.
Like the ellipse and parabola, the hyperbola is a conic section.
Related article: Conics
hypotenuse
On a right triangle, the side opposite the right angle.
i
See imaginary number.
icosahedron
A polyhedron having twenty faces.
The faces of a regular icosahedron are congruent, equilateral triangles.
Cf. Platonic solid.
identity function
A function that maps each domain element to itself. Also called the identity map.
identity map
See identity function.
image
Given a function f with domain X, the image under f of a subset A of X, denoted f(A), is the subset of the range consisting of those elements to which elements of A are mapped by f.
imaginary number
By definition, the square root of –1, i.e., i 2 = –1.
Cf. complex number.
indeterminate form
A limit of an expression is said to be indeterminate, or in indeterminate form, if when evaluated directly it resolves to one of the forms
Such limits may often be evaluated by manipulating them algebraically before applying the limit, or, in the case of the first two indeterminate forms shown, by applying L'Hospital's Rule.
Related article: Limits
inf
Abbreviation of infimum.
infinity
Infinity is a concept understood in different ways depending upon the context in which the word is used. In particular, infinity is not a number in the ordinary sense. The so-called extended real numbers include either a positive or a negative infinity (but not both). When this is done, the algebraic forms "infinity plus negative infinity", "infinity times zero", and "infinity divided by infinity" are undefined. Infinite ordinals may be countable or uncountable. Whether actually infinite totalities may be admitted, used, or analyzed remains a contentious issue in the philosophy of mathematics. See the minitext for a thorough treatment.
Related MiniText: Infinity -- You Can't Get There From Here...
injection
An injective function, i.e., a function that is “one-to-one.” Equivalently, a function that maps exactly one element of its domain to each element of its range.
Cf. surjection, bijection.
injective
A function is injective, also called “one-to-one,” if to each element of the range at most one element of the domain is mapped by the function.
Cf. surjective, bijective.
integer
An element of the set Z consisting of the natural numbers, zero, and the additive inverses (negatives) of the natural numbers. I.e., Z = { ... -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, ... }. The use of Z to denote the set of integers stems from the German word zahlen, which means “to count.”
Cf. natural number.
Related MiniText: Number -- What Is How Many?
integral
An antiderivative of a function. That is, if f(x) is a real-valued function, an antiderivative F(x) of f(x) has the property that the derivative of F with respect to x is f.
The definite integral (called the Riemann integral) of a real-valued function f(x) from x = a to x = b is the limit of the Riemann sum:
assuming this limit exists, where ci is in the i th subinterval of the partition of (a, b), and where a is the lower limit, and b is the upper limit, of the integral.
Cf. fundamental theorem of calculus, Lebesgue integral.
integral test
A test for the convergence of a series. See the related article for a complete description.
Related article: Series
integration
Obtaining an integral of a function.
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