Related papers: Notes on proof by dichotomy
We study a well-known technique of using absoluteness for giving choice-free proofs to some statements which are known to be provable with the axiom of choice. The idea is to reduce the problem to an inner model where the axiom of choice…
We study the proof scheme "proof by example" in which a general statement can be proved by verifying it for a single example. This strategy can indeed work if the statement in question is an algebraic identity and the example is "generic".…
All the already known results on self descriptive numbers, together with the demonstration of the uniqueness for bases greater than 6, are here obtained through a systematic scheme of proof and not trial and error. The proof is also…
To determine whether a number is congruent or not is an old and difficult topic and progress is slow. The paper presents a new theorem when a prime number is a congruent number or not. The proof is not necessarily any simpler or shorter…
Argumentation is the process of constructing arguments about propositions, and the assignment of statements of confidence to those propositions based on the nature and relative strength of their supporting arguments. The process is modelled…
One of the greatest difficulties encountered by all in their first proof intensive class is subtly assuming an unproven fact in a proof. The purpose of this note is to describe a specific instance where this can occur, namely in results…
We give an elementary probabilistic proof of a binomial identity. The proof is obtained by computing the probability of a certain event in two different ways, yielding two different expressions for the same quantity.
A theorem of Andrews equates partitions in which no part is repeated more than 2k-1 times to partitions in which, if j appears at least k times, all parts less than j also do so. This paper proves the theorem bijectively, with some of the…
Euler's theorem asserts that $A(n)=B(n)$ where $A(n)$ is the number of partitions of $n$ into distinct parts and $B(n)$ is the number of partitions of $n$ into odd parts. In this paper, it is proved that for $n>0$, \begin{align*}…
In this article, we try to explain and unify standard divisibility tests found in various books. We then look at recurring decimals, and list a few of their properties. We show how to compute the number of digits in the recurring part of…
In this short note we give an alternative proof of Glivenko's Theorem, stating that a formula $\phi$ is provable in classical propositional logic if and only if $\neg\neg\phi$ is provable in intuitionistic propositional logic. We work in…
Our main result is a new proof of correctness of Euclid's algorithm. The proof is conducted in algorithmic theory of natural numbers Th3. A formula H is constructed that expresses the halting property of the algorithm. Next, the proof of H…
This short note present a "proof" of $P\neq NP$. The "proof" with double quotation marks is to indicate that we do not know whether the proof is correct or not (We're confused because we do know in which we make the mistakes).
This article precisely defines huge proofs within the system of Natural Deduction for the Minimal implicational propositional logic \mil. This is what we call an unlimited family of super-polynomial proofs. We consider huge families of…
This article examines two approaches to verification, one based on using a logic for expressing properties of a system, and one based on showing the system equivalent to a simpler system that obviously has whatever property is of interest.…
Consider a sequence of independent random isometries of Euclidean space with a previously fixed probability law. Apply these isometries successively to the origin and consider the sequence of random points that we obtain this way. We prove…
The motivation for this paper comes out of our experience with teaching natural deduction (ND) and with the way this formal system is implemented by the \textsc{Coq} proof assistant, namely by means of so-called tactics, which are…
Many proofs of the fundamental theorem of algebra rely on the fact that the minimum of the modulus of a complex polynomial over the complex plane is attained at some complex number. The proof then follows by arguing the minimum value is…
This paper presents both a proof method and a result. The proof method presented is particularly suitable for uniformly proving families of identities satisfied by a family of recursive sequences. To illustrate the method, we study the…
We study a variant of Newton's algorithm applied to under-determined systems of non-smooth equations. The notion of regularity employed in our work is based on Newton differentiability, which generalizes semi-smoothness. The classic notion…