关于“费尔马最后定理的证明”一文的评注

本文对“费尔马最后定理的证明”一文作出几点评注，主要结论是该证明仅仅是对费尔马最后定理的部分情形的证明，即并没有完全证明费尔马最后定理     

Cognitive trajectory of proof by contradiction for transition-to-proof students

History and research on proof by contradiction suggests proof by contradiction is difficult for students in a number of ways. Students’ comprehension of already-written proofs by contradiction is one such aspect that has received relatively little attention. Applying the cognitive lens of Action-Process-Object-Schema (APOS) Theory to proof by contradiction, we constructed and tested a cognitive model that describes how a student might construct the concept ‘proof by contradiction’ in an introduction to proof course. Data for this study was collected from students in a series of five teaching interventions focused on proof by contradiction. This paper will report on two participants as case studies to illustrate that our cognitive trajectory for proof by contradiction is a useful model for describing how students may come to understand the proof method.     

Investigating undergraduate students’ proof schemes and perspectives about combinatorial proof

Combinatorics is an area of mathematics with accessible, rich problems and applications in a variety of fields. Combinatorial proof is an important topic within combinatorics that has received relatively little attention within the mathematics education community, and there is much to investigate about how students reason about and engage with combinatorial proof. In this paper, we use Harel and Sowder’s (1998) proof schemes to investigate ways that students may characterize combinatorial proofs as different from other types of proof. We gave five upper-division mathematics students combinatorial-proof tasks and asked them to reflect on their activity and combinatorial proof more generally. We found that the students used several of Harel and Sowder’s proof schemes to characterize combinatorial proof, and we discuss whether and how other proof schemes may emerge for students engaging in combinatorial proof. We conclude by discussing implications and avenues for future research.     

Pool resolution is NP-hard to recognize

A pool resolution proof is a dag-like resolution proof which admits a depth-first traversal tree in which no variable is used as a resolution variable twice on any branch. The problem of determining whether a given dag-like resolution proof is a valid pool resolution proof is shown to be NP-complete.     

Impacts of inquiry pedagogy on undergraduate students conceptions of the function of proof

Mathematicians and mathematics educators agree that proof is an important tool in mathematics, yet too often undergraduate students see proof as a superficial part of the discipline. While proof is often used by mathematicians to justify that a theorem is true, many times proof is used for another purpose entirely such as to explain why a particular statement is true or to show mathematics students a particular proof technique. This paper reports on a study that used a form of inquiry-based learning (IBL) in an introduction to proof course and measured the beliefs of students in this course about the different functions of proof in mathematics as compared to students in a non-IBL course. It was found that undergraduate students in an introduction to proof course had a more robust understanding of the functions of proof than previous studies would suggest. Additionally, students in the course taught using inquiry pedagogy were more likely to appreciate the communication, intellectual challenge, and providing autonomy functions of proof. It is hypothesized that these results are a response to the pedagogy of the course and the types of student activity that were emphasized.     

A sample-path approach to the optimality of echelon order-up-to policies in serial inventory systems

We present a new proof of the optimality of echelon order-up-to policies in serial inventory systems, first proved by Clark and Scarf. Our proof is based on a sample-path analysis as opposed to the original proof based on dynamic programming induction.     

An elementary geometric nonstandard proof of the Jordan curve theorem

We give an elementary proof, using nonstandard analysis, of the Jordan curve theorem. We also give a nonstandard generalization of the theorem. The proof is purely geometrical in character, without any use of topological concepts and is based on a discrete finite form of the Jordan theorem, whose proof is purely combinatorial.Some familiarity with nonstandard analysis is assumed. The rest of the paper is self-contained except for the proof a discrete standard form of the Jordan theorem. The proof is based on hyperfinite approximations to regions on the plane.Research of the first author partially supported by FONDECYT Grant # 91-1208 and of the second author, by FONDECYT Grant # 90-0647.     

Integrating Algebra and Proof in High School: Students' Work with Multiple Variables and a Single Parameter in a Proof Context

In the United States, researchers argue that proof is largely concentrated in the domain of high school geometry, thus providing students a distorted image of what proof entails, which is at odds with the central role that proof plays in mathematics. Despite the centrality of proof, there is a lack of studies addressing how to integrate proof into other mathematical domains. In this article, we discuss a teaching experiment designed to integrate algebra and proof in the high school curriculum. Algebraic proof was envisioned as the vehicle that would provide high school students the opportunity to learn not only about proof in a context other than geometry but also about aspects of algebra. Results from the experiment indicate that students meaningfully learned about aspects of both algebra and proof in that they produced algebraic proofs involving multiple variables and a single parameter, based on conjectures they themselves generated.     

An elementary proof of the irrationality of ζ(3)

An elementary proof of the irrationality of ζ(3) is presented. The proof is based on a two times more dense sequence of Diophantine approximations to this number than the sequence in the original proof of Apery.     

On the proof of Sullivan's eventual periodicity theorem

In this paper,we give a modified proof of Sullivan's eventual theorem for rational dynamics. Our proof is based on some idea of the Sullivan's proof,but does not make use of the Teichmuller theory.     

Preservice teachers learning to teach proof through classroom implementation: Successes and challenges

Proof and reasoning are central to learning mathematics with understanding. Yet proof is seen as challenging to teach and to learn. In a capstone course for preservice teachers, we developed instructional modules that guided prospective secondary mathematics teachers (PSTs) through a cycle of learning about the logical aspects of proof, then planning and implementing lessons in secondary classrooms that integrate these aspects with traditional mathematics curriculum in the United States. In this paper we highlight our framework on mathematical knowledge for teaching proof and focus on some of the logical aspects of proof that are seen as particularly challenging (four proof themes). We analyze 60 lesson plans, video recordings of a subset of 13 enacted lessons, and the PSTs’ self- reported data to shed light on how the PSTs planned and enacted lessons that integrate these proof themes. The results provide insights into successes and challenges the PSTs encountered in this process and illustrate potential pathways for preparing PSTs to enact reasoning and proof in secondary classrooms. We also highlight the design principles for supporting the development of PSTs’ mathematical knowledge for teaching proof.     

Integrating algebra and proof in high school mathematics: An exploratory study

Frequently, in the US students’ work with proofs is largely concentrated to the domain of high school geometry, thus providing students with a distorted image of what proof entails, which is at odds with the central role that proof plays in mathematics. Despite the centrality of proof in mathematics, there is a lack of studies addressing how to integrate proof into other mathematical domains. In this paper, we discuss a teaching experiment designed to integrate algebra and proof in the high school curriculum. Algebraic proof was envisioned as the vehicle that would provide high school students the opportunity to learn not only about proof in a context other than geometry, but also about aspects of algebra. Results from the experiment indicate that students meaningfully learned about aspects of both algebra and proof in that they produced algebraic proofs involving multiple variables, based on conjectures they themselves generated.     

A Teacher's Conception of Communication in Geometry Proofs

Mathematical proof has many purposes, one of which is communication of the reasoning behind a mathematical insight. Research on teachers' views of the role that proof plays as mathematical communication has been limited. This study describes how one teacher conceptualized proof communication during two units on proof (coordinate geometry proofs and Euclidean proofs). Based on classroom observations, the teacher's conceptualization of communication in written proofs is recorded in four categories: audience, clarity, organization, and structure. The results indicate differences within all four categories in the way the idea of communication is discussed by the teacher. Implications for future studies include attention to teachers' beliefs about learning mathematics in the process of understanding teachers' conceptions of proof as a means of mathematical communication.     

Alternative Proof of Mironov’s Results on Commuting Self-Adjoint Operators of Rank 2

We give an alternative proof of Mironov’s results on commuting self-adjoint operators of rank 2. Mironov’s proof is based on Krichever’s complicated theory of the existence of a high-rank Baker–Akhiezer function. In contrast to Mironov’s proof, our proof is simpler but the results are slightly weaker. Note that the method of this article can be extended to matrix operators. Using the method, we can construct the first explicit examples of matrix commuting differential operators of rank 2 and arbitrary genus.     

Argumentation and algebraic proof

This paper concerns a study analysing cognitive continuities and distances between argumentation supporting a conjecture and its algebraic proof, when solving open problems involving properties of numbers. The aim of this paper is to show that, unlike the geometrical case, the structural distance between argumentation and proof (from an abductive argumentation to a deductive proof) is not one of the possible difficulties met by students in solving such problems. On the contrary, since algebraic proof is characterized by a strong deductive structure, abductive steps in the argumentation activity can be useful in linking the meaning of the letters used in the algebraic proof with numbers used in the argumentation. The analysis of continuities and distances between argumentation and proof is based on the use of Toulmin’s model combined with ck¢ model.     

The lonely runner problem for lacunary sequences

The paper contains a new proof with a small improvement of a theorem of A. Dubickas on The Lonely Runner Conjecture and lacunary sequences. The proof is an adaptation of the Bernshteyn’s proof of the Lopsided Local lemma from his Local Cut Lemma (Bernshteyn, 2017).     

A proof of strongly uniform termination for Gödel's T by methods from local predicativity

We estimate the derivation lengths of functionals in G?del's system of primitive recursive functionals of finite type by a purely recursion-theoretic analysis of Schütte's 1977 exposition of Howard's weak normalization proof for . By using collapsing techniques from Pohlers' local predicativity approach to proof theory and based on the Buchholz-Cichon and Weiermann 1994 approach to subrecursive hierarchies we define a collapsing f unction so that for (closed) terms of G?del's we have: If reduces to then By one uniform proof we obtain as corollaries: A derivation lengths classification for functionals in , hence new proof of strongly uniform termination of . A new proof of the Kreisel's classific ation of the number-theoretic functions which can be defined in , hence a classification of the provably total functions of Peano Arithmetic. A new proof of Tait's results on weak normalization for . A new proof of Troelstra's result on strong normalization for . Additionally, a slow growing analysis of G?del's is obtained via Girard's hierarchy comparison theorem. This analyis yields a contribution to two open pro blems posed by Girard in part two of his book on proof theory. For the sake of completeness we also mention the Howard Schütte bound on derivation lengths for the simple typed -calculus. Received August 4, 1995     

Proving programs correct: Some techniques and examples

Proving the correctness of computer programs is justified as both advantageous and feasible. The discipline of proof provides a systematic search for errors, and a completed proof gives sufficient reasons why the program must be correct. Feasibility is demonstrated by exhibiting proofs of five pieces of code. Each proof uses one or more of the illustrated proof techniques of case analysis, assertions, mathematical induction, standard prose proof, sectioning and a table of variable value changes. Proofs of other programs, some quite lengthy, are cited to support the claim that the techniques work on programs much larger than the examples of the paper. Hopefully, more programmers will be encouraged to prove programs correct.     

Exact Boundary Controllability of Electromagnetic Fields in a General Region

We prove exact controllability for Maxwell's system with variable coefficients in a bounded domain by a current flux in the boundary. The proof relies on a duality argument which reduces the proof of exact controllability to the proof of continuous observability for the homogeneous adjoint system. There is no geometric restriction imposed on the domain. Accepted 25 June 2001. Online publication 19 October 2001.     

An elementary proof of the Petersson-Knopp theorem on Dedekind sums

A brief and elementary proof of Petersson and Knopp's recent theorem on Dedekind sums is given. The proof is based on a result of Subrahmanyam.