Related papers: Why prove things?
In mathematics information is a number that measures uncertainty (entropy) based on a probabilistic distribution, often of an obscure origin. In real life language information is a datum, a statement, more precisely, a formula. But such a…
When talking to secondary school students, first impressions are crucial. Accidentally say something that sounds boring and you'll lose them in seconds. A physical demonstration can be an eye-catching way to begin an activity or spark off a…
We explore the theory of illfounded and cyclic proofs for the propositional modal $\mu$-calculus. A fine analysis of provability for classical and intuitionistic modal logic provides a novel bridge between finitary, cyclic and illfounded…
Formal logic has often been seen as uniquely placed to analyze mathematical argumentation. While formal logic is certainly necessary for a complete understanding of mathematical practice, it is not sufficient. Important aspects of…
Explaining why a database query result is obtained is an essential task towards the goal of Explainable AI, especially nowadays where expressive database query languages such as Datalog play a critical role in the development of…
We introduce a novel task consisting in assigning a proof to a given mathematical statement. The task is designed to improve the processing of research-level mathematical texts. Applying Natural Language Processing (NLP) tools to research…
Arising out of an attempt at a new foundations of mathematics, in which relations are more primitive than sets, and out of the theoretical physicists' concept of underlying causes of empirical phenomena, the idea of a purely mathematical…
In this paper, we provide an easy proof of the Four-colour Theorem in a special case indeed.
We give a concise proof of the fundamental theorem of smoothing theory in the special case when a smoothing exists.
Proofs of the fundamental theorem of algebra can be divided up into three groups according to the techniques involved: proofs that rely on real or complex analysis, algebraic proofs, and topological proofs. Algebraic proofs make use of the…
In order to help students learn how to write mathematical proofs, we adapt the Coq proof assistant into an educational tool we call Waterproof. Like with other interactive theorem provers, students write out their proofs inside the software…
Teaching college students how to write rigorous proofs is a critical objective in courses that introduce formal reasoning. Over the course of several years, we have developed a mechanically-checkable style of calculational reasoning that we…
Many proofs of the Fundamental Theorem of Algebra, including various proofs based on the theory of analytic functions of a complex variable, are known. To the best of our knowledge, this proof is different from the existing ones.
As modern computing moves towards smaller devices and powerful cloud platforms, more and more computation is being delegated to powerful service providers. Interactive proofs are a widely-used model to design efficient protocols for…
We define a fragment of propositional logic where isomorphic propositions, such as $A\land B$ and $B\land A$, or $A\Rightarrow (B\land C)$ and $(A\Rightarrow B)\land(A\Rightarrow C)$ are identified. We define System I, a proof language for…
The purpose of this note is to raise two different questions, which are rarely if ever considered, and to which, it seems, we lack convincing, systematic answers. These questions can be posed as: - Why do we compute? - What do we compute?…
We sketch several proofs of F\'ary--Milnor theorem.
In this paper I propose the idea to establish a clear distinction between the foundations of truth and the foundations of meaning in Mathematics. I explore on the most basic example, the mathematical line, the possibility that the…
We prove Union-Closed sets conjecture.
Almost from the inception of Hilbert's program, foundational and structural efforts in proof theory have been directed towards the goal of clarifying the computational content of modern mathematical methods. This essay surveys various…