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#1 Euler Avenue » Publishing for Amateur Mathematicians » 2014-10-31 09:12:24

Reuel
Replies: 3

Hey.

I have worked out a numerical method for something I prefer not to go in to on a public forum, and I was wondering if people around here ever had serious discussions on mathematical publication, especially for people of the so-called amateur level.

I am not personally affiliated with any university or private establishment and I have noticed that academic journals and even peer review sites such as arXiv.org want to know, among their first concerns, what sort of establishment one is "affiliated" with. I am not affiliated with anyone and I have done no research other than to do my best to use Google and Google Scholar to find any past works of other peoples who have already worked out what I have found. So far I have found nothing on the subject. I would use a better research tool such as MathSciNet, but I can't afford to. Besides, Google seems to be aware of most academic articles.

My project is in the field of numerical analysis. I would prefer to publish in an academic journal rather than some popular mathematics magazine. My math skills are good and I am capable of learning new things... I just wonder how much of a setback it will be attempting to publish something in a "prestigious" journal without first being prestigious myself. I have confidence in myself and my project - the project is quite good and I would love to put it out there for the use of others - but I'm just not sure how the world of academia works. It seems to be all about prestige, honors, affiliations, and titles.

Advice? Thoughts?

Thank you.

#2 Help Me ! » Question on Matrix Terminology » 2014-10-30 08:13:14

Reuel
Replies: 1

Hey.

I haven't been here in a while. I like the new forum look.

I have a question about terminology where matrices are concerned. Of course, a coefficient matrix will be a matrix that gives the coefficients to a system of equations and may or may not be augmented or homogeneous, if I am using the terminology correctly.

My question: what is a matrix with variables called? That is, not a matrix of coefficients that corresponds to a linear system; rather, what is a matrix that contains variables called?

Random example: Suppose a person were to encounter a matrix that looks something like this:

where x,y are real variables and x1,y1∈R. What kind of matrix is M? Not a matrix of coefficients, nor a matrix that corresponds to a linear system (I don't think?) but a... ? matrix.

Incidentally, I chose M because

solved for y yields a linear function through the origin.

While I am here, does a semicolon mean "to solve for"? I have seen it in various contexts and I was wondering if det(M)=0;y would properly mean "to solve for y".

Thanks!

#3 Help Me ! » Differential Equations - Linear vs. Nonlinear » 2014-05-05 08:15:30

Reuel
Replies: 1

Hello.

I have been trying to understand the difference between linear and nonlinear differential equations. If one has some random differential equation of the form

then, if I am correct, it is first order because it is the first derivative and ordinary because there is only one independent variable, being x, correct?

Now suppose the answer is known to be some rational expression of the form

where P(x) and Q(x) are polynomials, and let's say they are of the first degree, meaning the highest order of x is to the first power.

Is the original differential equation linear or nonlinear? The result is not a linear function and has nothing to do with transcendentals so far as I am aware. I would think that the original equation would be called nonlinear but I wanted to make sure.

Thanks.

#4 Re: Help Me ! » Impredicativity » 2014-05-05 08:07:45

Hey bob.

Thanks for the reply.

Do recursive statements such as the self-referencing I gave in my example have any special name, or are they just called recursive statements?

#5 Help Me ! » Impredicativity » 2014-04-29 12:19:15

Reuel
Replies: 3

Hello. I have a definition question.

According to wikipedia and wolfram alpha, impredicativity is the self-reference of a set. What would be a simple example of this?

If we have a point on (x,f(x)), say, (a,b) and separate the two points as



and



so that either self-referencing result is not a function but is, at the specified value, the value itself... would this be a good example of the concept? Each result has x or f on both sides of the equals sign so that if x=a and f=b then we revert to our original values that constitute a single point.

Thanks.

#6 Re: Help Me ! » Determining the Vertex of a Hyperbola with Known Points » 2014-04-11 01:12:52

Nevermind, I've got it. You can use the very identity you suggested to set up a system of equations and solve for "a" that way.

Thanks for reminding me of that identity.

#7 Help Me ! » Determining the Vertex of a Hyperbola with Known Points » 2014-04-10 10:06:28

Reuel
Replies: 2

Hi!. Long time no post.

I have a question about finding the vertex of a hyperbola in elliptic coordinates. Suppose your coordinate system is given by


and suppose, somehow, you happen to know that a≠1 and you also happen to know a few of the points along the hyperbola... I don't know, maybe you have a diagram or something that shows the points labeled.

Does anyone know of a method for finding a≠1 based entirely on a few points along the hyperbola?

Thanks.

#8 Help Me ! » Formal Mathematics: Existence; Uniqueness; Well-Defined Objects » 2013-12-19 02:57:08

Reuel
Replies: 0

Nevermind, I guess. I would delete this thread but I don't see a delete button.

#9 Re: Help Me ! » Transformation Matrix » 2013-12-17 09:49:55

I did it but it's more typing than I have time for right now. You have to multiply M by a matrix with 9 unknowns so that you end up with a system of nine equations with 11 unknowns and then solve it for those unknowns entirely in terms of a and b only. It was quite a bit of substitution and algebraic manipulation and the resulting transformation matrix is enormous.

Thanks for your input!

#10 Re: Help Me ! » Transformation Matrix » 2013-12-17 04:43:11

What works and whatever is most simple. smile

I'll keep working on it and come back either with a solution or more whining.

#11 Re: Help Me ! » Transformation Matrix » 2013-12-17 04:39:38

Consistency. And it still works in that it still leads to y=x.

#12 Re: Help Me ! » Transformation Matrix » 2013-12-17 04:32:05

You mean rewrite M as

and then N as

?

That makes it look cleaner. I still don't know how to find P to go from M to N, but I am experimenting with it on paper.

#13 Re: Help Me ! » Transformation Matrix » 2013-12-17 04:01:38

Quite possible. I was just trying to simplify the model for the sake of those reading it but I may have messed it up in doing so.


If simplification complicated the issue, the function f(x) might even be able to expand with some manipulation. For instance letting c=a-b or something to eliminate c while adding in additional a and b terms. Or not. Actually, that might make it worse.

#14 Re: Help Me ! » Transformation Matrix » 2013-12-17 03:51:48

The problem I introduced stemmed from experimentation with representing that hyperbolic function I keep bringing up in matrix form. As bob bundy implied, the function

may be rewritten as

which, according to wikipedia, is of the form

where 2B=1, 2D=-a/c, and 2E=b/c, and everything else is zero. Therefore we can state the original f(x)=y in matrix form as

where

and

In coming here I just used Greek letters to make the problem more simple rather than using fractions for every term. I left the 1/2's in case they held significance.


So then the problem became finding a matrix P that would transform a more basic equation y=x into the equation f(x) given at the start. The function y=x has the matrix

but that didn't work at all which is why I added in the two extra 1/2's in to M because if those terms were left as 0s then no matter what I multiplied by it, I would still get 0. And so, essentially, my original question was to ask for a transformation matrix P that would transform R in to M; that is, to go from

to

using matrices and a matrix transformation.

#16 Re: Help Me ! » Transformation Matrix » 2013-12-17 03:12:12

Yeah, I got that too.

So the answer is there is no transformation that will work?

#17 Re: Help Me ! » Transformation Matrix » 2013-12-17 02:59:44

Why isn't it enough to just make the transformation matrix

which is what I originally tried? Wouldn't you just multiply through and get N? Or is multiplying 3x3 matrices that different from 2x2?

#18 Help Me ! » Transformation Matrix » 2013-12-17 02:36:00

Reuel
Replies: 21

Hello.

How does one go about transforming an arbitrary matrix, say, one of the form

to the form

where the only change are the Greek components?

I tried just working out a matrix P on the spot to multiply M by to get N but I didn't get what I wanted at all. I have had a little experience with matrix transformations but I don't know how to derive the transformation itself. If someone could give me the matrix and explain how you got it so I understand, I would appreciate it.

Thank you for your help.

#19 Re: Help Me ! » Infinite series help » 2013-11-12 11:01:38

anonimnystefy wrote:

We can form a second order differential equation and get it from there.

How?


bobbym: Which notation of the initial statement would you say is the most correct?

or

or

or something else? They can all be interpreted to mean the same thing but I do not know if any of them are better than the rest.

#20 Re: Help Me ! » Infinite series help » 2013-11-11 02:52:22

Yeah, I think I do too. The second one feels unnecessarily elongated only to say the same exact thing.

#21 Re: Help Me ! » Infinite series help » 2013-11-11 02:48:11

Thanks for all the info.

Concerning the notation, is it just as proper to write

in the form

or is the second form superfluous? Are either one considered more correct?

#22 Re: Help Me ! » Infinite series help » 2013-11-10 11:02:17

So the Taylor (Maclaurin) series is just a way to represent a function and isn't necessarily meant to be solved except by computer. Got it.

Thanks for your help.

#23 Re: Help Me ! » Infinite series help » 2013-11-10 08:59:31

I see what you are saying and I already know that. When it is around zero it is a Maclaurin series. My original question is, how do I go from

to

without the aid of a computer program like Maple? Is there a way to compute it by hand like an integral? That is the information I am lacking. smile

#24 Re: Help Me ! » Infinite series help » 2013-11-10 05:00:26

Whatever works; whatever gets the desired result. If x=0 works then yes.

#25 Help Me ! » Infinite series help » 2013-11-09 10:58:01

Reuel
Replies: 14

Hello.

I am trying to teach myself infinite series. I recently posted on this forum questions involving the relationships between rational expressions and hyperbolas and because I am still in that mindset, I am using that example.

I have managed to work out that the series expansion or infinite series or infinite sum or whatever it is called for a function

will be of the form

such that

if computed will yield the desired function. I have confirmed this in Maple.

How do I go about doing this by hand so as to show all my work? Computing it in Maple is easy but I want to know how to do it for myself. I attempted the problem myself, treating it as an integration problem but that didn't work and it makes sense that it didn't work because I am counting to infinity instead of finding the area under a curve.

Any help is appreciated. smile

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