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Mathematical induction
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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not to be confused with inductive reasoning.

Mathematical induction can be informally

illustrated by reference to the sequential effect of falling dominoes. [1][2]

Mathematical induction is a method for proving that a statement is true for

every natural number , that is, that the infinitely many cases all hold. This is
done by first proving a simple case, then also showing that if we assume the
claim is true for a given case, then the next case is also true. Informal
metaphors help to explain this technique, such as falling dominoes or climbing
a ladder:
Mathematical induction proves that we can climb as high as we like on a
ladder, by proving that we can climb onto the bottom rung (the basis) and that
from each rung we can climb up to the next one (the step).
— Concrete Mathematics, page 3 margins.

A proof by induction consists of two cases. The first, the base case, proves
the statement for without assuming any knowledge of other cases. The
second case, the induction step, proves that if the statement holds for any
given case , then it must also hold for the next case . These two steps
establish that the statement holds for every natural number . The base case
does not necessarily begin with , but often with , and possibly with any fixed
natural number , establishing the truth of the statement for all natural
numbers .
The method can be extended to prove statements about more general well-
founded structures, such as trees; this generalization, known as structural
induction, is used in mathematical logic and computer science. Mathematical
induction in this extended sense is closely related to recursion. Mathematical
induction is an inference rule used in formal proofs, and is the foundation of
most correctness proofs for computer programs.[3]

Despite its name, mathematical induction differs fundamentally from inductive

reasoning as used in philosophy, in which the examination of many cases
results in a probable conclusion. The mathematical method examines infinitely
many cases to prove a general statement, but it does so by a finite chain
of deductive reasoning involving the variable , which can take infinitely many
values. The result is a rigorous proof of the statement, not an assertion of its
probability.[4]

History[edit]
In 370 BC, Plato's Parmenides may have contained traces of an early
example of an implicit inductive proof.[5]

The earliest implicit proof by mathematical induction was written by al-

Karaji around 1000 AD, who applied it to arithmetic sequences to prove
the binomial theorem and properties of Pascal's triangle. Whilst the original
work was lost, it was later referenced by Al-Samawal al-Maghribi in his
treatise al-Bahir fi'l-jabr (The Brilliant in Algebra) in around 1150 AD.[6][7]
Katz says in his history of mathematics
Another important idea introduced by al-Karaji and continued by al-Samaw'al
and others was that of an inductive argument for dealing with certain
arithmetic sequences. Thus al-Karaji used such an argument to prove the
result on the sums of integral cubes already known to Aryabhata [...] Al-Karaji
did not, however, state a general result for arbitrary n. He stated his theorem
for the particular integer 10 [...] His proof, nevertheless, was clearly designed
to be extendable to any other integer. [...] Al-Karaji's argument includes in
essence the two basic components of a modern argument by induction,
namely the truth of the statement for n = 1 (1 = 13) and the deriving of the truth
for n = k from that of n = k - 1. Of course, this second component is not
explicit since, in some sense, al-Karaji's argument is in reverse; this is, he
starts from n = 10 and goes down to 1 rather than proceeding upward.
Nevertheless, his argument in al-Fakhri is the earliest extant proof of the sum
formula for integral cubes.[8]

In India, early implicit proofs by mathematical induction appear in Bhaskara's

"cyclic method".[9]

None of these ancient mathematicians, however, explicitly stated the

induction hypothesis. Another similar case (contrary to what Vacca has
written, as Freudenthal carefully showed)[10] was that of Francesco
Maurolico in his Arithmeticorum libri duo (1575), who used the technique to
prove that the sum of the first n odd integers is n2.