H
Hadamard, Jacques (1865–1963) French Number
theory, Analysis, Mathematical physics Born on Dec-
ember 8, 1865, in Versailles, France, Jacques Hadamard
is remembered as one of the two mathematicians who
independently proved the famous PRIME NUMBER THEO-
REM first conjectured by the German mathematician
CARL FRIEDRICH GAUSS. Belgian scholar CHARLES-JEAN
DE LA VALLÉE-POUSSIN was the second mathematician to
prove the result.
Hadamard received a doctoral degree in 1892 from
the École Normale Supérieure after completing a disser-
tation on complex functions and TAYLOR SERIES. The
same year he also completed work on the Riemann ZETA
FUNCTION and the Riemann hypothesis, earning him the
Grand Prix des Sciences Mathématique from the institu-
tion. Hadamard soon came to also realize that, with the
recent developments in the field of complex functions,
all the necessary pieces were now in place to develop a
proof of the famous outstanding prime number conjec-
ture made by Gauss. (Vallée-Poussin independently
made the same realization.) Hadamard presented his
proof of the famous result in 1896. Later that same year
Hadamard was appointed as professor of astronomy
and rational mechanics at the University of Bordeaux.
Throughout his career Hadamard also made signifi-
cant contributions to the field of matrix theory by identi-
fying a class of matrices that can be used in
COMBINATORICS to create “block designs” and have
applications to PROBABILITY theory. He also studied VEC-
TOR SPACE theory (defining the term functional for a lin-
ear function on a vector space) and contributed to the
243
study of mathematics education. Hadamard wrote over
300 scientific papers. In 1906 he was elected president of
the French Mathematical Society, and 3 years later was
appointed chair of the Collège de France. He stayed in
that position for only 3 years, before accepting the posi-
tion as professor of analysis at the École Polytechnique.
He was elected to the Paris Academy of Sciences in 1912.
Hadamard died in Paris, France, on October 17,
1963. His proof of the prime number theorem is con-
sidered his most outstanding achievement.
half-plane The plane that lies on one side of a given
line is called a half-plane. If the points on the line itself
are considered part of the region, then we say that the
half-plane is “closed.” An “open” half-plane excludes
the points on the line.
If the equation of the given line is ax + by = c, then
the set of points (x,y) that satisfy ax + by > c form an
open half-plane on one side of the line, and those
points (x,y) satisfying ax + by < c form an open half-
plane on the other side. If c is positive, then this second
inequality represents the half-plane that contains the
origin (we have a · 0 + b · 0 = 0 < c), and if c is nega-
tive, then the first inequality contains the origin. If c
equals zero, one must substitute in different values for
x and y to determine which inequality represents which
half-plane. The inequalities ax + by ≥ c and ax + by ≤ c
represent closed half-planes.
In three-dimensional space, a half-space is the
region of space that lies on one side of a plane. The
244 Hall’s matching theorem
half-space can be either closed or open according to
whether or not points of the plane should be consid-
ered as part of this region.
Hall’s matching theorem (Hall’s marriage theorem)
In 1935 English mathematician Philip Hall estab-
lished the following result, now known as Hall’s
matching theorem:
Given n sets A1, A2, … , An with the property
that the union of any k of them (1 ≤ k ≤ n)
contains at least k distinct elements, it is
always possible to select n distinct objects, one
from each set.
The condition placed on these sets is not trivial—some
sets could be empty, or the same element could appear
in more than one set, for example.
The theorem is certainly true for the case n = 1: a
single set satisfying the condition of the theorem con-
tains at least one element. Two sets satisfying the con-
ditions of the theorem together contain at least two
distinct elements. As neither set is allowed to be empty,
one set contains one element, and the other another
distinct element. Thus the theorem also holds true for
the case n = 2. One can build up a general proof of the
theorem using a proof by INDUCTION.
The validity of the theorem can be demonstrated
with an amusing game of solitaire: divide a shuffled deck
of cards into 13 piles of four cards. The challenge is to
select an ace from one pile, a two from another, a three
from a third, all the way down to king from a 13th pile.
Hall’s matching theorem ensures that this game can
always be won, no matter how the cards are shuffled.
(Think of each pile as a set containing one, two, three,
or four elements—the distinct denominations that
appear in that pile. Among any k piles it must be the
case that at least k distinct denominations appear.)
Hall gave another interpretation to his theorem
(explaining the alternative name to the result):
Suppose n women each list the names of the
men they would like to marry. As long as any k
women mention at least k distinct names
among them, 1 ≤ k ≤ n, then it is possible to
make satisfactory matches for all.
See also SEMI-MAGIC SQUARE.
halting problem In 1936 computer theorist Alan Tur-
ing contemplated whether or not it would ever be possi-
ble to write a computer program that could read any
other program and determine whether that program will
come to a stop or will run forever (by falling into an infi-
nite loop, for example). This question has since become
known as the halting problem. Turing concluded that
such a program could not possibly exist. He reasoned via
a clever ARGUMENT of SELF-REFERENCE:
Suppose a program HALT(P) exists that can
read a computer program P and print yes or
no according to whether P will or will not
halt. Consider then another program, which
we will call TROUBLE, that takes a pro-
gram P and does the following:
TROUBLE (P):
If HALT(P) = “yes” then perform an infinite
loop.
If HALT(P) = “no” then halt.
That is, TROUBLE takes a program P and
goes into an infinite loop if P is a program
that halts, and it halts if P is a program that
does not. Now ask: what does TROUBLE
(TROUBLE) do? We have that TROUBLE
halts if TROUBLE does not halt, and does
not halt if it does! This absurdity shows that
no such program HALT(P) could exist.
There are technical difficulties with this argument (one
must be careful to properly distinguish between the roles
of a program and the input of a program, for example),
but Turing was able to overcome these concerns and
show that this argument is fundamentally sound.
Hamilton, Sir William Rowan (1805–1865) Irish
Algebra, Graph theory, Number theory, Mathematical
physics Born on August 4, 1805, in Dublin, Ireland,
William Rowan is generally considered Ireland’s great-
est mathematician of all time. He is remembered for
his development of an entirely new algebraic system,
the QUATERNIONS, which, seven decades later, proved
to be crucial for the development of quantum mechan-
ics and the mathematical physics of the internal struc-
ture of an atom.
Hamilton was a child prodigy, mastering 12 differ-
ent languages by the age of 13. During the teen years,

he read the works of EUCLID in the original Greek, the
works of SIR ISAAC NEWTON in Latin, and the works of
PIERRE-SIMON DE LAPLACE in French. He found a sub-
tle error in Laplace’s classic text Mécanique céleste, and
wrote a letter to the astronomer royal of Ireland, John
Brinkley, explaining the error and how it should be cor-
rected. Brinkley immediately recognized Hamilton’s
genius as a rising mathematician and publicly dubbed
him the “first mathematician of his age.”
Hamilton entered Trinity College at the age of 18
to study optics and mathematics. His original work in
these fields as an undergraduate, which included two
papers “Systems of Right Lines in a Plane” and “The-
ory of Systems of Rays,” was regarded as so significant
and innovative as to warrant his immediate appoint-
ment as a professor of astronomy at the college before
the completion of his basic degree.
Along with his work in optics, Hamilton made sig-
nificant contributions to the field of GRAPH THEORY
and to the algebra of COMPLEX NUMBERS, publishing
results on the latter topic in his 1837 paper “Prelimi-
nary and Elementary Essay on Algebra as the Science
of Pure Time.” In 1842 he took on the difficult chal-
lenge of trying to create an algebraic system for three-
dimensional space that had the same algebraic properties
as the complex numbers in two-dimensional space. [A
point (x,y) in the plane can be matched with the com-
plex number x + iy. This thus provides a means to “mul-
tiply” to two points in space: (x1, y1) · (x2, y2) = (x1x2 –
y1y2, x1y2 + x2y1).] Although he was never able to find a
solution to this “multiplication of triples” problem, his
efforts did lead him to the remarkable discovery of a dif-
ferent type of number system suitable for four-dimen-
sional space. He called this system the quarternions, and
found some surprising connections to mathematical
physics. In particular he observed that each quaternion
corresponds naturally to a physical transformation in
three-dimensional space and that the multiplication of
two quaternions matches perfectly with the composition
of the two physical transformations they represent. Thus
the geometry of three-dimensional physical space can be
reduced to the algebraic study of the algebra of quater-
nions. Hamilton was convinced his work would revolu-
tionize mathematical physics. Although it does have
applications to the field today, sadly, his work did not
have the impact he hoped.
Hamilton received many awards throughout his
life, most notably a knighthood in 1835 and election to
handshake lemma 245
the National Academy of Sciences in the United States
as its first foreign member. He wrote poetry for solace
throughout his life, and argued publicly that the lan-
guage of mathematics is just as artistic as the language
expressed through poetry. His close friend poet William
Wordsworth (1772–1834) did not agree. Hamilton
died near Dublin on September 2, 1865.
Hamiltonian path/circuit See GRAPH THEORY.
ham-sandwich theorem As a generalization of the
INTERMEDIATE-VALUE THEOREM and the two-pancake
theorem that follows from it, mathematicians have
proved the following result, called the ham-sandwich
theorem:
Given any three objects sitting in three-dimen-
sional space, there exists a single plane that
simultaneously slices the volume of each object
exactly in half.
For example, there is a single plane that simultaneously
slices the Eiffel tower, the planet Neptune, and this
book each precisely in half by volume. The theorem
gains its name from the following interpretation:
It is possible, in a single planar cut, to divide
each of two pieces of bread and a slab of ham
into two pieces of equal volume. This is pos-
sible no matter the shape of the food pieces
and no matter where in space the three items
are placed.
The result generalizes to higher dimensions:
Given any N objects sitting in N-dimensional
space, it is always possible to find an (N – 1)-
dimensional “plane” that simultaneously slices
the “volume” of each object in half.
(With N = 2, this is the two-pancake theorem.)
handshake lemma This amusing result states that,
at any instant, the number of people on this planet, liv-
ing or deceased, who have taken part in an odd total
number of handshakes is necessarily even. This lemma
can be proved with the aid of GRAPH THEORY.
246 Hardy, Godfrey Harold
Hardy, Godfrey Harold (1877–1947) British Anal-
ysis, Number theory Born on February 7, 1877, in
Cranleigh, England, eminent mathematician Godfrey
Hardy is remembered for his significant contributions
to the fields of NUMBER THEORY, inequalities, and to
the study of the Riemann ZETA FUNCTION and the Rie-
mann hypothesis. Hardy also encouraged the Indian
mathematician SRINIVASA AIYANGAR RAMANUJAN to
come to England, and collaborated with him for five
years to produce a number of significant results, most
notably on the theory of PARTITIONs. In 1940 Hardy
published A Mathematician’s Apology, which remains,
to this day, one of the most vivid and eloquent descrip-
tions of how a mathematician thinks.
Hardy entered Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1896
to pursue an advanced degree in mathematics. After pub-
lishing a number of papers on the topics of INTEGRALs,
SERIES, and general topics of ANALYSIS, Hardy published,
in 1908, the undergraduate textbook A Course of Pure
Mathematics, which explained, in a rigorous manner, the
concepts of function, LIMIT, and the elements of analysis.
This work was very influential and is said to have trans-
formed the entire nature of university teaching.
In 1911 Hardy began a 35-year-long collabora-
tion with English mathematician John Littlewood
(1885–1977), leading to a change of focus in the field
of number theory. Together they produced over 100
joint publications. This work also tied in nicely with
the research Hardy was conducting in 1914 with
Ramanujan, also on topics in number theory.
Hardy was recognized as an important figure in
mathematics. In 1910 he was elected a fellow of the
ROYAL SOCIETY of London, received the Royal Medal
of the Society in 1920, the De Morgan Medal of the
Society in 1929, and the Sylvester Medal of the Soci-
ety in 1940 for his work in pure mathematics. Seven
years later he was awarded the Copley Medal of the
Society for his contributions to the field of analysis.
Hardy died in Cambridge, England, on December 1,
1947. He is generally recognized as the leading English
pure mathematician of his time. His 1932 book The The-
ory of Numbers, cowritten with E. M. Wright, is consid-
ered a classic text and is still used by graduate students
and researchers in the field of number theory today.
harmonic function A function defined at a discrete
number of locations is said to be harmonic if the value
of the function at any one location equals the average
of the function values at its neighboring locations. For
example, if 10 students sit in a circle, then their “age
function” would be harmonic if the age of any one stu-
dent equals the average age of his or her two neigh-
bors. (A little thought shows that this is only possible if
the age of each student is the same. A harmonic func-
tion for points arranged in a circle must be constant.)
Harmonic functions play an important role in the
study of RANDOM WALKs and calculating odds in gam-
bling. Imagine, for example, a gambler playing a simple
game of tossing a coin to either win a dollar or to lose a
dollar. We ask: with $3 in hand, what are her chances of
reaching the $10 mark before going broke? To compute
this, let P(N) denote the PROBABILITY of achieving the
goal starting with N dollars in hand. Clearly P(0) = 0
and P(10) = 1. We wish to compute P(3).
The key is to note that P(N) is a harmonic function
on its 11 values zero through 10. This follows because
there are equal chances for the gambler to lose or win a
dollar and thus to next play with either N – 1 or N + 1
dollars in hand. Consequently:
1 1 P(N − 1) + P(N + 1)
P(N) = P(N − 1) + P(N + 1) =
2 2 2
and so each quantity P(N) is indeed the average of the
values just preceding and succeeding it. Some thought
shows that the values P(0) = 0 up to P(10) = 1 must be
strictly increasing by equal intervals of one-tenth. The
N 3
values P(N) are thus P(N) = – . In particular, P(3) = – ,
10 10
showing that there is only a 30 percent chance that the
gambler will achieve her goal before losing all her cash.
harmonic mean See MEAN.
harmonic sequence (harmonic progression) A SE-
1 1 1
QUENCE of numbers of the form – , – , – ,… with
a1 a2 a3
integers a1,a2,a3,… forming an ARITHMETIC SEQUENCE
is called a harmonic sequence. The numbers a1,a2,a3,…
have a constant difference between them. For example,
1 1 1 1 1 1
1, – , – , – ,… is a harmonic sequence, as is – , – , –
2 3 4 4 7 10
1 1 1 1 1
– ,… and – , – , – , ––– ,… . The word harmonic is
13 25 50 75 100
 harmonic series 247

used because the nth harmonic produced by a violin 1.53 × 1043 terms an answer larger than 100. Clearly
string is the tone produced by the string that is 1/n the series diverges to infinity very slowly.
times as long. In 1734 LEONHARD EULER showed that, for large
∞
1 values of n, the nth PARTIAL SUM of the harmonic series
The corresponding SERIES ∑a for any harmonic can be well approximated by a LOGARITHM:
n=1 n
sequence necessarily diverges. In the study of CONVERGENT
1 1 1
SERIES, the comparison test shows that this must be the 1+ + + L + ≈ ln(n) + γ
∞
1 2 3 n
case. (Compare a series of the form ∑ a + dn with
n =0
∞
1 where γ ≈ 0.577 is a constant (called EULER’S CON-
∑ , which we know diverges.) STANT) and the error in this approximation is no larger
n=1 n
See also HARMONIC SERIES. than 1/n. (Notice that ln(n) + γ → ∞ as n grows. This
again shows that the series diverges.)
The partial sums of the harmonic series are called
1 the harmonic numbers, and are denoted Hn. The first
harmonic series The particular infinite sum 1 + –
2
+
10 harmonic numbers are:
–1 1 1
+ – + – + … is called the harmonic SERIES. The
3 4 5
word harmonic is used because the nth harmonic pro- H1 = 1;
duced by a violin string is the tone produced by the 3 11 11
string that is 1/n times as long. H2 = ; H3 = = ;
2 6 2 ⋅3
Even though the terms of this series approach zero, 25 137 49 363
H4 = ; H5 = ; H6 = ; H7 = ;
the series does not sum to a finite value. This can be 4 ⋅3 4 ⋅ 15 4⋅5 4 ⋅ 35
seen by grouping the terms of the series into sections of 761 7129 7381
length two, four, eight, 16, and so on, and making a H8 = ; H9 = ; H10 = .
8 ⋅ 35 8 ⋅ 315 8 ⋅ 315
simple comparison:
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 One can use an induction argument to show that if
1+ + + + +L+ + +L+ + +L
2 3 4 5 16 17 32 33 2k ≤ n < 2k+1, then the denominator of Hn (written in
1 1 1 1 1 1 1 reduced form) is a multiple of 2k. Consequently, no
= 1+ ( ) + ( + ) + ( +L+ ) + ( +L+ )
2 3 4 5 16 17 32 denominator (except for the first) can be 1. This proves:
1
+( +L No harmonic number, other than the first, is
33
an integer.
1 1 1 1 1 1 1
> 1+ ( ) + ( + ) + ( +L+ ) + ( +L+ )
2 4 4 16 16 32 32 The divergence of the harmonic series solves the amus-
1 ing rubber-band problem:
+( +L
64
An infinitely tiny ant starts at one end of a rub-
1 1 1 1 1 ber band, 1 ft long, and crawls a distance of 1
= 1+ ( ) + ( ) + ( ) + ( ) + ( ) +L
2 2 2 2 2 in. toward the other end. It then pauses, and the
=∞ band is stretched 1 ft longer (to a total length of
2 ft), carrying the ant along with it to the 2-in.
That the series diverges means that summing suffi-
position. The ant then crawls for another inch,
ciently many initial terms of the series will produce to the 3-in. position, and pauses while the band
answers arbitrarily large (although it may take a large is stretched another foot longer. This process of
number of terms to do this). For example, summing walking an inch and pausing while the band
the first four terms produces an answer larger than 2, stretches a foot continues indefinitely. (We
the first 11 terms an answer larger than 3, the first assume the band is infinitely elastic.) Will the
13,671 terms an answer larger than 10, and the first ant ever make it to the end of the rubber band?
248 helix

Note that in the first leg of the journey, the ant helix A spiral-shaped curve sitting in three-dimensional
covers 1/12th of the length of the band, and that this space is called a helix. The name is the Greek word for
proportion remains the same as the band is stretched. a “spiral” or a “twist.”
During the second leg of the journey, the ant covers A cylindrical helix lies on a cylinder and cuts
now only 1/24th of the length of the band (1 in. of 24 across straight lines drawn along the length of the
in.), 1/36th of the length during the third length, and so cylinder at a constant angle α. A spiral staircase and
on. Thus after n legs of the journey, the ant covers the the thread on a straight screw are examples of cylindri-
cal helices. A conical helix is a spiral curve on a CONE,
fraction 1  1 + 1 + 1 + L + 1  = H n of the band. The and a spherical helix is a spiral on a SPHERE that cuts
12  1 2 3 n  12
ant reaches the finish only if Hn ever surpasses the lines of longitude at a constant angle.
value 12. As the harmonic series diverges, this must A cylindrical helix has PARAMETRIC EQUATIONS: x
indeed be the case. = a cost, y = a sint, and z = bt, where a and b are con-
stants, and t is the parameter. A conical helix is given
Although the harmonic series diverges, the ALTER-
by: x = aet cost, y = aet sint, and z = et.
NATING SERIES test from the study of CONVERGENT SERIES
shows that the alternating harmonic series, given by
1 1 1 1 1 Heron of Alexandria (ca.10–75 C.E.) Greek Geome-
1 – – + – – – + – – – +…
2 3 4 5 6 try, Number theory, Physics, Engineering Sometimes
called Hero, Heron of Alexandria is remembered in
converges. We can use Euler’s approximation formula mathematics for his three-volume text Metrica, redis-
to find its value. First note: covered in 1896. The work discusses and develops in
great detail the principles of geometry, number, and
1 1 1 1 1 numerical approximation. It also contains the earliest
S2n = 1 − + − +L+ −
2 3 4 2n − 1 2n known proof of the famous formula that bears Heron’s
 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 name. Outside of mathematics, Heron is best known
= 1 + + + L + +  − 2 + + L + 
 2 3 2n − 1 2n  2 4 2n  for his contributions to mechanics and fluid mechanics.
Demonstrating a wide range of scientific interests,
 1 1 1 1  1 1 1
= 1 + + + L + + − + +L+  Heron wrote studies in optics, pneumatics (the study
 2 3 2n − 1 2n 1 2 n and use of gas and fluid pressures), astronomy, survey-
= ln(2n) + γ − ln(n) − γ + error ing techniques, and planar and solid geometry, but it is
the work presented in Metrica that proves his genius as
= ln 2 + error
a mathematical intellect. Book I of this famous piece
computes the areas of triangles, quadrilaterals, and reg-
where the error is no larger than 2/n and so converges
ular polygons, as well as the surface areas of cones,
to zero as n grows. Consequently, the even partial prisms, spheres, and other three-dimensional shapes.
sums of the series approach the value In(2). The sum His famous formula for the area of a triangle solely in
1
of an odd number of terms equals S2n+1 = S2n + = terms of its side-lengths is presented in this section,
2n + 1 along with a general method for computing the square
1 1 root of a number to any prescribed degree of accuracy.
S2n+1 = S2n + = ln2 + error + and so too
2n + 1 2n + 1 (This procedure is today called HERON’S METHOD.
approaches ln2 as n becomes large. Thus we have:
Book II of Metrica derives formulae for the volume
1 1 1 1 1 of each PLATONIC SOLID, as well as the volumes of
1 – – + – – – + – – – + … = ln(2) cones and spherical segments, and Book III extends
2 3 4 5 6
EUCLID’s study of geometric division. Heron also pre-
This example is often used to illustrate the difference sents a method for determining the cube root of a num-
between conditional and ABSOLUTE CONVERGENCE of a ber in this third volume.
series. In that setting, it can also be used to provide an Heron also wrote a number of important treatises
amusing “proof” that 1 equals 2. on mechanics, many of which survive today. His text
See also MERCATOR’S EXPANSION. Pneumatica represents a careful (but, in places, inaccu-

rate) study of pressure in fluids, along with a descrip-
tion of a collection of trick gadgets and toys illustrating
specific scientific principles. He also describes designs
for over 100 practical machines, including pneumatic
pulleys and lifts, wind organs, coin-operated machines,
fire engines, and steam-powered engines that operate in
a way similar to today’s jet engine.
Some of Heron’s texts have the appearance of draft
lecture notes, leading some historians to suspect that he
may have taught at the famous Museum of Alexandria.
Little is actually known of Heron’s life.
Heron’s formula (Hero’s formula) In his work Met-
rica, HERON OF ALEXANDRIA (ca. 100 C.E.) presented a
formula for the AREA of a TRIANGLE solely in terms of
the side-lengths of the triangle. Today known as
Heron’s formula, it reads:
area = √s(s – a)(s – b)(s – c)
where a, b, and c are the sides of the triangle, and
1 2000 B.C.E. It is also equivalent to NEWTON’S METHOD
s = – (a + b + c) is its “semiperimeter.” The formula is a
2 when applied to the function f(x) = x2 – N.
special case of BRAHMAGUPTA’S FORMULA, discovered
500 years later.
Heron’s formula can be proved as follows: if θ is the
angle between the sides of length a and b, then the area
1
of the triangle is given by area = – ab sin(θ). The LAW
2
OF COSINES asserts that c2 = a2 + b2 –2ab cos(θ). Solving
for sin(θ) and cos(θ), and substituting into the standard
identity from TRIGONOMETRY, cos2(θ) + sin2(θ) = 1,
yields, after some algebraic work, Heron’s result.
See also BRETSCHNEIDER’S FORMULA; MEDIAN OF A
TRIANGLE; QUADRILATERAL; TRIANGLE.
Heron’s method (Hero’s method) In Book I of his
volume Metrica, HERON OF ALEXANDRIA gives a
method for approximating the SQUARE ROOT of a num-
ber. It works as follows:
Estimate the value of the square root. Divide
this guess into the number under considera-
tion, and take the average of the result and the
initial estimate. This will produce a better
approximation to the square root.
Repeated application of this method pro-
duces an estimate to any desired degree of
accuracy.
Hilbert, David 249
In symbols, Heron claims that if x approximates
N
x+
the square root of a number N, then x is a better
2
approximation. For example, taking 3 as an approxima-
10
3+
tion to the square root of 10, we obtain 3 ≈ 3.1667
2
as an improved estimate. Repeating the procedure yields
10
3.1667 +
3.1667 ≈ 3.1623 as an even better approxima-
2 –
tion. (In fact, √10 ≈ 3.16227766.)
N
x+
To show why this method works, let y = x .
2
1
Then (y − N ) = (x − N )2 , which shows that if the
– 2 x –
error x – √N is small, then the error y – √N will be even
smaller. (We are assuming here that x is a value greater
than 1.)
This method was known to the Babylonians of
See also BABYLONIAN MATHEMATICS.
higher derivative Taking the DERIVATIVE of the same
function more than once, if permissible, produces the
higher derivatives of that function. The first, second
and third derivatives of a function f(x) are denoted,
respectively, f ′(x), f ′′(x) and f′′′(x), and for n ≥ 4, the
nth derivative as f (n)(x). For example, the third deriva-
tive of f(x) = x4 + sin x is f′′′(x) = 24x – cos x. This
notation for the repeated derivative is due to JOSEPH-
LOUIS LAGRANGE (1736–1813). GOTTFRIED WILHELM
LEIBNIZ (1646–1716), coinventor of CALCULUS, used the
dn f(x)
notation ––––
dxn for the higher derivatives, and French
mathematician Louis Arbogast (1759–1803) wrote
Dn f(x). All three notational systems are used today.
Hilbert, David (1862–1943) German Formal logic,
Geometry, Mathematical physics, Algebraic number
theory Born on January 23, 1862, in Königsberg,
Prussia (now Kaliningrad, Russia), mathematician
David Hilbert is remembered as one of the founding
fathers of 20th-century mathematics. In 1899 Hilbert
250 Hilbert’s infinite hotel
published his famous Grundlagen der Geometrie
(Foundations of geometry), in which he provided a
completely rigorous axiomatic foundation of the sub-
ject clarifying the hidden assumptions that EUCLID
had made in his development of the subject two mil-
lennia earlier. Moreover, Hilbert advanced the topic of
FORMAL LOGIC and used his results to prove that his
approach to geometry is CONSISTENT given that the
arithmetic of the real numbers is free of contradic-
tions. In 1900 Hilbert posed 23 problems to the math-
ematicians of the 20th century that he felt lay at the
heart of vital mathematical research. Two of his prob-
lems were solved almost immediately, but the remain-
ing 21 challenges did indeed stimulate important
mathematical thinking. Many of his challenges are
still unsolved today. Hilbert also greatly influenced
the development of quantum theory in theoretical
physics: his notion of a “Hilbert space” provided the
right conceptual framework for the subject. Hilbert
also made important contributions to the fields of spe-
cial relativity and general relativity.
Hilbert received a doctorate of mathematics from
the University of Königsberg in 1885 after writing a
thesis in ABSTRACT ALGEBRA. He was appointed to a
faculty position at the university, where he remained
for 10 years before accepting the position as chair of
mathematics at the University of Göttingen in 1895.
Hilbert taught and worked at Göttingen for the
remainder of his career.
His 1897 text Zahlbericht (Number theory) was
hailed as a brilliant synthesis of current thinking in
algebraic number theory, and the original results it con-
tained were acknowledged as outstanding. Hilbert’s
abilities to grasp the subtleties of a sophisticated math-
ematical theory, develop penetrating insights, and pro-
vide new innovative and stimulating perspectives on a
subject were apparent. Throughout his career Hilbert
worked on a wide variety of disparate subjects, making
groundbreaking contributions to each before moving
on to the next. He published his famous work on
EUCLIDEAN GEOMETRY in 1899.
In 1900 Hilbert was invited to address the Paris
meeting of the International Congress of Mathemati-
cians. During his speech he detailed 10 mathematical
problems that he felt were of great importance. (He
expanded the list to 23 problems when he published his
address.) These problems include the CONTINUUM
HYPOTHESIS, GOLDBACH’S CONJECTURE, a search for
the axiomatization of physics, and a search for a gen-
eral algorithm for solving DIOPHANTINE EQUATIONs.
Some important progress, and in many cases, complete
solution, has been made on all the challenges posed
except for one, the so-called Riemann hypothesis,
which asks for the locations of the roots of the ZETA
FUNCTION. This remains, perhaps, the most famous
unsolved problem of today.
Later in life Hilbert worked on formal logic and on
the foundations of theoretical physics. Between 1934
and 1939 he published two volumes of Grundlagen der
Mathematik (Foundations of mathematics), cowritten
with Paul Bernays (1888–1977), which were intended
to develop a proof of the consistency of mathematics.
(GÖDEL’S INCOMPLETENESS THEOREMS showed, how-
ever, that such a goal is unattainable.) His development
of functional analysis provided the correct mathemati-
cal framework for the theory of quantum mechanics.
Hilbert received many honors throughout his
career, including a special citation from the Hungarian
Academy of Sciences in 1905. Upon his retirement in
1929, the city of Göttingen named a street after him,
and the city of Königsberg, his birthplace, declared him
an honorary citizen. He died in Göttingen on February
14, 1943. He is remembered for shaping the very nature
of 20th-century research in the pure mathematics.
Hilbert’s infinite hotel (Hilbert’s paradox) German
mathematician DAVID HILBERT (1862–1943) observed
that studies of the infinite can often lead to nonintu-
itive and surprising conclusions. His famous infinite-
hotel paradox illustrates some of his ideas:
Imagine a hotel with an infinite number of
rooms. Suppose every room is occupied. Is it
possible for the hotel to accommodate one
more guest?
If the rooms are numbered 1, 2, 3, and so on, Hilbert
pointed out that, despite the inconvenience, each exist-
ing guest can be moved from room n to room n + 1,
thereby leaving room 1 free for a latecomer. There is
indeed room for another single guest. One can go fur-
ther: suppose a tourist bus, with an infinite number of
tourists on board, arrives at the hotel. Moving each
hotel guest from room n to room 2n, instead, leaves all
the odd-numbered rooms vacant for the infinite num-
ber of new arrivals.
 Hippocrates of Chios 251

If an infinite number of tourist buses, each contain- cumbersome system of ROMAN NUMERALS that were
ing an infinite number of tourists, arrive at the same the standard in Europe for over 1,500 years.
time, one can still find room to accommodate the mul- See also BASE OF A NUMBER SYSTEM; DECIMAL REP-
titude of new guests: RESENTATION; NUMBER; ZERO.

Move all the existing hotel guests to the even-

numbered rooms. Hippasus of Metapontum See PYTHAGORAS.
Place the tourists from the first bus into
the rooms given by the powers of 3: 3, 9, 27,…
Place the tourists from the second bus into Hippocrates of Chios (ca. 470–410 B.C.E.) Greek
the rooms given by the powers of 5: 5, 25, Geometry Born in Khíos (Chios), Greece, Hippo-
125,… crates is remembered as the first mathematician to have
Next use all rooms numbered the powers found the area of a curved figure, namely, that of a
of 7, of 11, of 13, and so on, down along the LUNE. He also made first steps toward properly analyz-
list of all the PRIME numbers. As, according to
ing the problem of SQUARING THE CIRCLE.
EUCLID’S PROOF OF THE INFINITUDE OF PRIMES,
there are infinitely many primes, and no two Very little is known of Hippocrates’ life. It is
powers of different primes are the same, this thought that Hippocrates may have first worked as a
allocation scheme does the trick. merchant before developing an interest and talent for
geometry later in his life. Although he wrote only one
See also CARDINALITY; FUNDAMENTAL THEOREM OF text on the topic (unfortunately lost to us today), many
ARITHMETIC; INFINITY; PARADOX; TRISTRAM SHANDY scholars throughout history referred to his work in
PARADOX. their own studies.
Hippocrates was interested in the famous problem of
squaring the circle, that is, finding a method of construct-
Hindu-Arabic numerals The numeral system we ing a square of the same area as a given circle. Although
use today is called the Hindu-Arabic numeral system. he was unable to solve this problem, he did manage to
Using a base-10 PLACE-VALUE SYSTEM, numbers are show that, in many instances, it is possible to “square a
expressed via combinations of the symbols 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, lune.” For example, in the diagram below, figure ABCD
5, 6, 7, 8, and 9, organized so as to represent groupings is a square, and the shaded region is the lune formed by
of powers of 10. For instance, the number 574 repre- one circular arc with center D and a second circular arc
sents the five groups of 100, seven groups of 10, and with center O, the center of the square. Hippocrates,
four single units. using geometric reasoning, showed that the area of the
This numerical system originated from India lune matches the area of the smaller square shown.
around 600 C.E., almost in the exact same form as we
use it today. The system was transmitted to the Arabs
two centuries later as they worked to translate the San-
skrit works on astronomy into Arabic. The Arab math-
ematician MUHAMMAD IBN MUS – –A AL-KHW–ARIZM–ı
(ca. 800) wrote an influential treatise describing the
Hindu numeral system, and used it in his famous book
Hisab al-jabr w’al-muqābala (Calculation by restora-
tion and reduction), from whose title the modern word
algebra is derived. As Western scholars began translat-
ing the Arabic texts into Latin, word of the efficient
numeration system spread across Western Europe. Ital-
ian scholar FIBONACCI (ca. 1170–1250) avidly pro-
moted their use. By the end of the 17th century, the
Hindu-Arabic numeral system completely replaced the Hippocrates lune
252 histogram
(One can check this algebraically by labeling the
radius of the larger circular arc r and computing the
side-length of the large square, the area of the sector
DAC, the area of the semicircle ABC, and consequently
the area of the lune.)
In applying this type of analysis to a number of dif-
ferent lunes, Hippocrates managed to prove that the
ratio of the areas of two different circles is the same as
the ratio of their radii squared. This new result was a
significant achievement. Some historians believe that
EUCLID may have drawn on the work of Hippocrates
when he described and proved this result in his famous
text THE ELEMENTS.
histogram See DISTRIBUTION; STATISTICS: DESCRIPTIVE.
homogeneous A POLYNOMIAL in several variables
p(x,y,z,…) is called homogeneous if all terms in the poly-
nomial have the same total degree. For example, each
term of the polynomial x3 + 5x2y – xy2, has total degree
three, and so represents a homogeneous polynomial.
More generally, a function of several variables
f(x,y,z,…) is homogeneous if there is a natural number n
such that the following relation holds for any nonzero
constant k:
f(kx,ky,kz,…) = kn f(x,y,z,…)
x+y y2
For example, the function x 2 sin( ) + xy cos( 2 ) is
y x
homogeneous.
Identifying homogeneous functions can be helpful
in solving DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONs. Any formula that
represents the MEAN of a set of numbers is required to
be homogeneous.
In physics, the term homogeneous describes a sub-
stance or an object whose properties do not vary with
position. For example, an object of uniform density is
sometimes described as homogeneous. In cooking,
when creaming butter and sugar, for instance, one aims
to produce a homogeneous mixture.
homomorphism A map f between two sets S and T,
each equipped with some kind of algebraic structure, is
called a homomorphism (Greek, homos, “same”; mor-
phé, “form” or “shape”) if it preserves the algebraic
relations within the sets. For example, if the algebraic
operation is “multiplication” in the set S and “addi-
tion” in the set T, and if z is the product of two ele-
ments in S, z = x × y, then f(z) should correspond to the
sum of the two corresponding elements in T:
f(x × y) = f(x) + f(y)
The LOGARITHM function, for example, is a
homomorphism from the set of positive real numbers
under multiplication to the set of all real numbers
under addition.
If f is the doubling function, f(x) = 2x, on real
numbers, then f is a homomorphism under addition,
but not under multiplication:
f(x + y) = 2(x + y) = 2x + 2y = f(x) + f(y)
f(x × y) = 2 × x × y ≠ f(x) × f(y)
The squaring map f(x) = x2 preserves multiplication but
not addition.
A map between two GROUPs is called a homomor-
phism if it preserves the algebraic operations of the
groups. A map f : S → T between two RINGs is called a
homomorphism if it preserves both the additions and
multiplications of the system:
f(x + y) = f(x) + f(y)
f(x × y) = f(x) × f(y)
for all elements x and y of the ring S.
See also ISOMORPHISM.
Hypatia of Alexandria (ca. 370–415 C.E.) Greek Phi-
losophy, Commentary Born about 370 in Alexandria,
Egypt, Hypatia is remembered as the first woman in the
history of mathematics to have made significant contri-
butions to the field, both as a scholar and as a teacher.
She was the daughter of mathematician and astronomer
Theon of Alexandria. Hypatia wrote influential com-
mentaries on her father’s work and also on the work of
APOLLONIUS OF PERGA (ca. 263–190 B.C.E.) and DIO-
PHANTUS OF ALEXANDRIA (ca. 200–284 C.E.).
Little is known of Hypatia’s life. She likely received
instruction in mathematics from her father, and cer-
tainly maintained a close working relationship with
him throughout her life. It is known that she assisted
 hyperbola 253

him in writing his 11-part commentary on the mathe-

matical work of CLAUDIUS PTOLEMY (85–165 C.E.) and
on his production of a revised version of EUCLID’s The
Elements. Hypatia produced her own commentaries on
classical pieces, including Diophantus’s famous Arith-
metica, Apollonius’s Conics, and astronomical works
by Ptolemy. All of her work, however, is today lost, and
we know of them only through references made by
later scholars.
Around 400 C.E. Hypatia headed the Platonist
school at Alexandria, where she consulted on scientific
matters and lectured on philosophy and mathematics.
During this time, Christianity surfaced as the dominant
religion of the region, and fanatics felt threatened by
her intellect and scholarship. Around 415 C.E. Hypatia
was brutally murdered by a group of religious follow-
ers who deemed her philosophical views pagan. Many
historians suggest that the death of Hypatia marks the
beginning of Alexandria’s decline as the great center of
scholarship and learning of antiquity.
It is worth mentioning that at least one other Hyperbola
woman is known to have played an active role in
mathematics during the Greek times. In his work Col-
lection, PAPPUS OF ALEXANDRIA (300–350 C.E.) gives
acknowledgment to a female scholar by the name of positive number c. It is convenient to write d = 2a, for
Pandrosion. Essentially nothing is known about her. some a > 0. If P = (x,y) is an arbitrary point on the
hyperbola, then, according to the DISTANCE FORMULA,
the defining conditions read:
hyperbola As one of the CONIC SECTIONS, the hyper-
bola is the plane curve consisting of all points P whose (x + c)2 + y 2 − (x − c)2 + y 2 = ± 2a
distances from two given points F1 and F2 in the plane
have a constant difference. The two fixed points F1 Moving the second radical to the right-hand side,
and F2 are called the foci of the hyperbola. The hyper- squaring, and simplifying yields the equation:
bola also arises as the curve produced by the intersec-
tion of a plane with the two nappes of a right circular c 
CONE.
(x − c)2 + y 2 = ± x − a
a 
Using the notation |PF1| and |PF2| for the lengths of
the line segments connecting P to F1 and F2, respec-
x2 y2
tively, the defining condition of a hyperbola can be Squaring and simplifying again yields − 2 = 1.
written as one of two equations: a 2 c − a2
Noting that c is greater than a, we can set the positive
quantity c2 – a2 as equal to b2, for some b > 0. Thus the
|PF1| – |PF2| = d or |PF2| – |PF1| = d
equation of the hyperbola is:
where d denotes the constant difference. Each equation x2 y2
defines its own curve, or branch, of the same hyperbola. − =1
a 2 b2
The equation of a hyperbola can be found by intro-
ducing a coordinate system in which the foci are Conversely, one can show that any equation of this form
located at positions F1 = (–c, 0) and F2 = (c,0), for some does indeed yield a hyperbola with foci at positions
254 hyperbolic functions

(± √a2 + b2 ,0), and whose points P have distances with
common difference 2a from the foci. This equation
also reveals that the hyperbola has slant ASYMPTOTEs
b x.
y = ±–
a
Hyperbolas have the following reflection property:
any ray of light that approaches the convex side of one
branch along a line pointing toward one focus is
reflected directly toward the other focus. (This property
can be proved in a similar way that the reflection prop-
erty of a PARABOLA is proved.)
Hyperbolas appear in the folding of a thin piece of
paper. Draw a circle and a dot outside the circle on a
sheet of paper. Fold the dot onto the circle and crease
the paper. Open up the fold and do this again, this time
folding the dot to a different point on the circle. As you
do this many times, one branch of a hyperbola will
emerge along the side of all the creases. The marked
dot is one focus of the hyperbola, and the center of the
circle is the other. The radius of the circle is the con-
stant difference of distances of a point on the hyper-
bola from the two foci.
In the process of deriving the equation of a hyper-
bola, we presented the equation:
c 
(x − c)2 + y 2 =  x − a
 a  sinh(t) =
c
valid for one branch of the figure at least. Set e =
a
a 2 + b2 b2
= 1 + 2 . This is called the ECCENTRICITY
a a
of the hyperbola and has a value greater than 1. The
above equation can be rewritten:
(x − c)2 + y 2
=e
a
x−
e
focus) to its distance from a fixed line (the
directrix) equals a constant e > 1.
See also APOLLONIUS’S CIRCLE; ELLIPSE.
hyperbolic functions In analogy to the fact that the
sine and cosine functions of TRIGONOMETRY represent
the coordinates of a point on the unit circle, x2 + y2 = 1,
the hyperbolic functions represent the coordinates of a
point on the right branch of a HYPERBOLA, x2 – y2 = 1.
Specifically, the x-coordinate of a point on the
curve, at an “angle” t, is called the hyperbolic cosine
function, and is denoted cosh(t), and the y-coordinate
is called the hyperbolic sine function, denoted sinh(t).
We have:
cosh2(t) – sinh2(t) = 1
One can also see that cosh(–t) = cosh(t) and sinh(–t) =
–sinh(t).
Mathematicians sometimes define the hyperbolic
sine and cosine functions via the formulae:
e t + e −t
cosh(t) =
2
e t − e −t
2
= One can check that these formulae do indeed satisfy the
equation of a hyperbola x2 – y2 = 1 with x > 0, and so
must indeed be the coordinates of its points. (These
equations are reminiscent of the formula cos(t) =
e it + e − it e it + e − it
and sin(t) = , which follow from
2 2i
EULER’S FORMULA for ordinary trigonometric functions.)

The numerator of the quantity on the left side is the

distance of a given point P from a focus, and the
denominator is the distance of the point P from the ver-
a , called a directrix of the hyperbola.
tical line x = –
e
This formulation provides an alternative characteriza-
tion of the hyperbola:

A hyperbola is the set of all points P such that

the ratio of its distance from a fixed point (the The trigonometric and the hyperbolic functions

Taking the DERIVATIVE we see:
d d e t + e −t e t − e −t
cosh(t) = = = sinh(t)
dt dt 2 2
and
d axioms proposed by Euclid.
sinh(t) = cosh(t)
dt
In analogy to the ordinary trigonometric functions, math-
ematicians define four additional hyperbolic functions:
sinh(t) 1
tanh(t) = , coth(t) = , to the same line.
cosh(t) tanh(t)
1 1
sech(t) = , csch(t) =
cosh(t) sinh(t)
The hyperbolic cosine curve arises in nature as the
shape of the curve formed by a chain hanging freely
between two points. This curve is called a CATENARY.
See also OSBORNE’S RULE.
hyperbolic geometry (Lobachevskian geometry) Inde-
pendently discovered in 1823 by Hungarian mathemati-
cian JÁNOS BOLYAI (1802–60) and in 1829 by Russian
mathematician NIKOLAI IVANOVICH LOBACHEVSKY
(1792–1856), hyperbolic geometry is a NON-EUCLIDEAN
GEOMETRY in which the famous PARALLEL POSTULATE fails
in the following manner:
Through a given point not on a given line,
there is more than one line parallel to that
given line.
French mathematician JULES HENRI POINCARÉ
(1854–1912) later provided a simple model for this
geometry and the means to easily visualize geometric
results in this theory. The “Poincaré disk” consists of
all the points in the interior of the UNIT CIRCLE. A
“point” in geometry is any point inside this circle, and
a “line” is to be interpreted as a circular arc within
the circle with endpoints perpendicular to the bound-
ary of the circle. Any diameter of the boundary circle
is also considered a line. Distances are not measured
with a traditional ruler: points on the boundary circle
are considered to be infinitely far from the center of
the circle.
hyperboloid 255
Bolyai and Lobachevsky showed that all but the
fifth of EUCLID’S POSTULATES hold in the hyperbolic
geometry and, moreover, that this model of geometry is
consistent (that is, free of CONTRADICTIONs). This
establishes that the parallel postulate cannot be logi-
cally deduced as a consequence of the remaining
In hyperbolic geometry, all angles in triangles sum
to less than 180°, and the ratio of the circumference of
any circle to its diameter is less than π. (Moreover, the
value of this ratio is not the same for all circles.) Also,
it is possible for two perpendicular lines to be parallel
Physicists, following the work of ALBERT EINSTEIN,
suggest that the geometry of our universe is hyperbolic:
that it appears to us as Euclidean is a result of the fact
that we occupy such a small portion of it. (This is anal-
ogous to the fact that it is difficult to recognize the
Earth as round when living on it.)
See also EUCLIDEAN GEOMETRY; PLAYFAIR’S AXIOM;
SPHERICAL GEOMETRY.
hyperboloid The SOLID OF REVOLUTION obtained by
rotating a HYPERBOLA about one of its axes is called a
hyperboloid. If the rotation is performed about the axis
that lies between the two branches of the curve, then
the resulting surface is called a hyperboloid of one
sheet. It resembles a cylinder “pinched” at the center so
as to curve inward. Points on this surface satisfy an
x2 y2 z2
equation of the form –2 + –2 = –2 + 1 for some
a b c
constants a, b, and c. If, instead, the rotation is per-
formed about the axis that connects the two foci of the
hyperbola, then the resulting surface has two distinct
parts, each resembling a bowl. This surface is called a
hyperboloid of two sheets. Points on this surface satisfy
x2 y2 z2
the equation –2 + –2 = –2 – 1.
a b c
One can construct a model of a hyperboloid of
one sheet by holding two metal rings, one directly
above the other, and tying vertical strings from points
on the lower ring to their corresponding points on the
top ring. If one then rotates the top ring so that the
vertical strings begin to tilt, the model begins to “con-
strict.” The resulting surface is a hyperboloid of one
sheet. One can also see this surface by tying a string
around a handful of uncooked spaghetti strands.
256 hypercube
By rotating the top disc of this 1872 string model, one can trans-
form a cylinder of chords into the shape of a hyperboloid. (Photo
courtesy of the Science Museum, London/Topham-HIP/The
Image Works)
When the strands tilt, the surface of a hyperboloid of
one sheet appears.
See also ELLIPSOID; PARABOLOID.
hypercube The higher-dimensional analog of SQUARE
in two dimensions and a CUBE in three dimensions is
called a hypercube.
A unit square in the plane has four vertices at loca-
tions (0,0),(1,0),(0,1) and (1,1). A unit cube in three-
dimensional space has eight vertices at locations
(0,0,0), (1,0,0), (0,1,0), (1,1,0), (0,0,1), (1,0,1), (0,1,1)
and (1,1,1). By analogy, a hypercube of side-length 1
sitting in four-dimensional space has 16 vertices given
by: (0,0,0,0), (1,0,0,0), (0,1,0,0),…,(1,1,1,1).
Some people find it helpful to interpret the fourth
coordinate as time. In this context, each particular
value of the fourth coordinate represents a given
instant in time, and the remaining three coordinates
describe an ordinary object in three-dimensional space.
A four-dimensional hypercube can thus be thought of
as an ordinary cube moving through time. (One can
also apply this interpretation to ordinary squares and
cubes of lower dimension. For example, a line segment
is the result of a point sliding horizontally over time, a
square is the result of a horizontal line segment sliding
in the direction of the positive y-axis over time, and a
cube is the result of a two-dimensional square sliding in
the direction of the positive z-axis over time.) A four-
dimensional hypercube is also called a tesseract.
A square in two-dimensional space has four ver-
tices and four edges. A cube in three-dimensional space
has eight vertices and six square faces. One can show
that a tesseract has eight vertices and six cubic “faces,”
and that, in general, an n-dimensional hypercube has
2n vertices and 2n faces, each itself a hypercube of one
dimension less.
Four line segments hinged end-to-end fold to
make a square. Six squares arranged in a “cross” fold
to make a cube. Eight cubes arranged in an analogous
way—four in a row with the four remaining cubes
attached to the four exposed faces of the second
cube—fold in four-dimensional space to make a
hypercube. All in all, there are 261 different ways to
arrange eight ordinary cubes that fold in four-dimen-
sional space to make a hypercube. Each arrangement
is called a NET.
hypotenuse The longest side of a triangle that con-
tains a 90° angle, that is, a right triangle, is called the
hypotenuse of the triangle. PYTHAGORAS’S THEOREM
shows that this longest side lies opposite the right
angle. (If the three side-lengths of a right triangle are a,
b, and c, with c opposite the right angle, then c2 = a2 +
b2. This establishes that c is indeed larger than both a
and b.) The two remaining sides of a right triangle are
called the legs of the triangle.
The word hypotenuse is derived from the Greek
term hypoteinousa meaning “under tension” (the prefix
hypo-means “under” and teinein means “to stretch”).
Mathematicians have shown that an integer c can
be the length of the hypotenuse of a right triangle with
integer side-lengths if, and only if, in the prime FAC-
TORIZATION of c, no PRIME that appears an odd num-
ber of times is 3 more than a multiple of 4.
See also PYTHAGOREAN TRIPLES.
hypothesis testing See STATISTICS: INFERENTIAL.
 I
identity An equation that states that two mathemati-
cal expressions are equal for all possible values of any
variables that occur in them is called an identity. For
example, the DIFFERENCE OF TWO SQUARES formula
x2 – y2 = (x – y)(x + y) and the trigonometric equation
sin2θ + cos2θ = 1 are identities. Sometimes the symbol ≡
is used instead of = to indicate that the statement is an
identity. It is read as “identically equal to.”
A numerical statement, one involving no variables
at all, might still be called an identity if it illuminates
something interesting about the numbers involved. For
example, the following relationship could be called an
identity because of the unexpected appearance of the
number π:
 1  1  1  π
3 arctan   + arctan   + arctan  =
 4  20   1985  4
See also EQUATION; IDENTITY ELEMENT.
identity element (identity, neutral element) An ele-
ment of a set that, combined with any other element of
the set, leaves that element unchanged is called an iden-
tity element. More precisely, given a BINARY OPERATION
“*” on a set S, we say that e in S is an identity element if:
a*e = a
e*a = a
for all elements a of the set.
257
For example, the number zero is an identity ele-
ment for the set of real numbers under the operation of
addition: we have that a + 0 = a = 0 + a for all numbers
a. With respect to multiplication, 1 is an identity ele-
ment, since a × 1 = a = 1 × a for all numbers a. (The
number zero is sometimes called an “additive identity”
and the number 1 a “multiplicative identity.”)
In matrix theory the IDENTITY MATRIX is an identity
element under multiplication for the set of all square
matrices of a particular size. In SET THEORY, the EMPTY
SET is an identity under the operation of taking union.
Any GROUP is required to have an identity element.
It is impossible for a mathematical system to pos-
sess two different identity elements with respect to the
same binary operation. If, for instance, e and f are both
identity elements for a set S, then e*f equals e (since f is
an identity element), and it also equals f (since e is an
identity element). Thus e and f are the same.
In some mathematical theories it is desirable to dis-
tinguish between a “left identity,” that is an element eL
such that eL*a = a for all elements a, and a “right iden-
tity” eR that satisfies a*eR = a for all a. Of course, if the
theory satisfies the COMMUTATIVE PROPERTY, then eL and
eR are equal and represent an identity for the system.
See also INVERSE ELEMENT.
identity matrix (unit matrix) A square MATRIX with
each main diagonal element equal to 1 and all other
entries equal to zero is called an identity matrix. Such a
matrix is usually denoted I or Id, or even Idn if the