What Is Mathematical Induction?

In this video lesson, we talk about mathematical induction. What exactly is it? Mathematical induction is
a way of proving a mathematical statement by saying that if the first case is true, then all other cases are
true, too. So, think of a chain of dominoes. If you tip the first domino, what happens to all the other
dominoes? They fall, too. And there we have an example of mathematical induction in real life. If the
first domino falls, then all the other dominoes fall, too

Mathematical induction has two steps to it. The first is to prove that our first case is true. The second is
to prove that if any other case is true, then the following case is also true. It's like a chain effect. If any
one case is true, then the next is true also. And if this is the case, then it means that all the cases in any
one particular problem are true. Just like with our falling dominoes, if the first domino falls, then all the
dominoes will fall because if any one domino falls, it means that the next domino will fall, too.

How to Use It

So, how do we use mathematical induction? We use it to prove five mathematical statements, such as 1
+ 2 + 3 + 4 + . . . + n = (n)(n + 1) / 2 is true for all n. There are two steps to using mathematical induction.

Show the first case, usually n = 1, is true.

Assume that the case n = k is true, so therefore the case n = k + 1 is also true.

Proving a Statement:

So, let's see how we go about using mathematical induction. Why don't we go ahead and try to prove
the statement 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + . . . + n = (n)(n + 1) / 2?

We start by showing that the case n = 1 is true. When n = 1, our statement becomes 1 = (1)(1 + 1) / 2.
Evaluating this, we get 1 = (1)(2) / 2, which equals 1 = 2 / 2. This then becomes 1 = 1. Is that a true
statement? Yes, it is, and we have proved our first case.

The second step is kind of tricky. We are assuming that the case n = k is true. So, we have the statement
1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + . . . + k = (k)(k + 1) / 2 is true. Now we need to show that if this case is true, then so is the
case n = k + 1. The case n = k + 1 changes the statement to 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 . . . + k + (k + 1) = (k + 1)((k + 1) +
1) / 2.

For example:

To prove that this statement is true, we can use our assumption that the case n = k is true. Notice that
the terms all the way back up to the k + 1 term make up the n = k case, so we can replace all those terms
with what they equal, which is (k)(k + 1) / 2. So, now the statement that we need to prove becomes (k)(k
+ 1) / 2 + (k + 1) = (k+1)((k + 1) + 1) / 2. Let's add and multiply everything out on both sides and see if
they will equal each other. If they equal each other, then we will have proved our statement is true.
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Diophantine equation
Linear Diophantine equations got their name from Diophantus. Diophantus of Alexandria was a
mathematician who lived around the 3rd century. Diophantus wrote a treatise and he called
’Arithmetica’ which is the earliest known book on algebra.

A Diophantine equation is an algebraic equation for which rational or integral solutions are sought. An
algebraic equation is one that involves only polynomial expressions in one or more variables. What
makes the equation ’Diophantine’ is that the coefficients of the polynomials should be rational numbers
(or often integers) and also solutions must be only rational (or integer).

Brahmagupta(598-670)was the first mathematician who gave general solution of the linear Diophantine
equation (ax + by = c). Diophantus didn’t use complicated algebraic notation, but Brahmagupta used the
complicated notations for solving equation.

Two well-known results from beginning number theory are examples of Diophantine equations which
predate Diophantus. Both of these problems were known by the Babylonians. These are;

1. Linear equations of two variables, ax + by = c

2. The quadratic equation of three variables, x 2 + y 2 = z 2

In mathematics, a Diophantine equation is a polynomial equation, usually in two or more unknowns;

such that only the integer solutions are sought or studied (an integer solution is such that all the
unknowns take integer values). A linear Diophantine equation equates the sum of two or more
monomials, each of degree 1 in one of the variables, to a constant. An exponential Diophantine equation
is one in which exponents on terms can be unknowns.
Linear Diophantine equations

One equation

The simplest linear Diophantine equation takes the form ax + by = c, where a, b and c are given integers.
The solutions are described by the following theorem:

This Diophantine equation has a solution (where x and y are integers) if and only if c is a multiple of the
greatest common divisor of a and b. Moreover, if (x, y) is a solution, then the other solutions have the
form (x + kv, y − ku), where k is an arbitrary integer, and u and v are the quotients of a and b
(respectively) by the greatest common divisor of a and b.

Proof: If d is this greatest common divisor, Bézout's identity asserts the existence of integers e and f
such that ae + bf = d. If c is a multiple of d, then c = dh for some integer h, and (eh, fh) is a solution. On
the other hand, for every pair of integers x and y, the greatest common divisor d of a and b divides ax +
by. Thus, if the equation has a solution, then c must be a multiple of d. If a = ud and b = vd, then for
every solution (x, y), we have a(x + kv) + b(y − ku) = ax + by + k(av − bu) = ax + by + k(udv − vdu) = ax + by,

Showing that (x + kv, y − ku) is another solution. Finally, given two solutions such that ax1 + by1 = ax2 +
by2 = c, one deduces that u(x2 − x1) + v(y2 − y1) = 0. As u and v are coprime, Euclid's lemma shows that
v divides x2 − x1, and thus that there exists an integer k such that x2 − x1 = kv and y2 − y1 = −ku.
Therefore, x2 = x1 + kv and y2 = y1 − ku, which completes the proof.
 CHINESE REMAINDER THEOREM

In number theory, the Chinese remainder theorem states that if one knows the remainders of the
Euclidean division of an integer n by several integers, then one can determine uniquely the remainder of
the division of n by the product of these integers, under the condition that the divisors are pairwise
coprime. The earliest known statement of the theorem is by the Chinese mathematician Sun-tzu in the
Sun-tzu Suan-ching in the 3rd century AD.

The Chinese remainder theorem is widely used for computing with large integers, as it allows replacing a
computation for which one knows a bound on the size of the result by several similar computations on
small integers. The Chinese remainder theorem (expressed in terms of congruences) is true over every
principal ideal domain. It has been generalized to any commutative ring, with a formulation involving
ideals.

Formally stated, the Chinese Remainder Theorem is as follows:

Let $m$ be relatively prime to $n$. Then each residue class mod $mn$ is equal to the intersection of a
unique residue class mod $m$ and a unique residue class mod $n$, and the intersection of each residue
class mod $m$ with a residue class mod $n$ is a residue class mod $mn$.

Simply stated: Suppose you wish to find the least number $x$ which leaves a remainder of:

$\begin{aligned} &y_{1} \text{ when divided by } &d_{1}\\ &y_{2} \text{ when divided by } &d_{2}\\
&\vdots &\vdots\\ &y_{n} \text{ when divided by } & d_{n}\\ \end{aligned}$ such that $d_{1}$ , $d_{2}$
, ... $d_{n}$ are all relatively prime. Let $M = d_{1}d_{2} \cdots d_{n}$, and $b_{i} = \frac{M}{d_{i}}$.
Now if the numbers $a_{i}$ satisfy: $a_{i}b_{i} \equiv 1 \pmod {d_{i}}$ for every $1 \leq i \leq n$, then a
solution for $x$ is:

$x = \sum_{i=1}^n a_{i}b_{i}y_{i} \pmod M$