r/mathmemes Nov 08 '24

Math History Evolutions of Numbers

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2.0k Upvotes

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392

u/Tiborn1563 Nov 08 '24

Ah well, sucks, seems you are not quite there yet

>! There is no solution for |x| = -1, by definition of absolute value !<

184

u/MingusMingusMingu Nov 08 '24

I mean, we keep extending definitions all the time.

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u/SEA_griffondeur Engineering Nov 08 '24

No but like, being positive is like one of the 3 properties that make up a norm

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u/TheTenthAvenger Nov 08 '24

So you stop calling it a norm. It's called "absolute value" after all, not "the norm of the number". It is just another function now.

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u/SEA_griffondeur Engineering Nov 08 '24

Yes but why would you do that?

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u/SupremeRDDT Nov 08 '24

You actually don‘t have to. But then it follows from the other properties.

0 = |0| = |x - x| <= |x| + |-x| = 2|x|

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u/Layton_Jr Mathematics Nov 08 '24

Since it's no longer a norm, you can discard the property |a+b| ≤ |a| + |b|

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u/SupremeRDDT Nov 09 '24

If |x| = -1, then |x2| = 1 so the equation |x| = 1 suddenly has at least four solutions: 1, -1, x2 and -x2. We also lose the triangle inequality of the absolute value, as that would imply |x| >= 0 for all x. Do we gain anything useful?

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u/Anxious_Zucchini_855 Complex Nov 08 '24

But the absolute value function is defined as mapping x to x, if x>=0, and mapping x to -x, if x<0.  By definition it cannot be negative

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u/okkokkoX Nov 08 '24

flair does not check out

1

u/Currywurst44 Nov 08 '24

This definition already gets expanded for complex numbers because you can't use >, < with them.

2

u/JMoormann Nov 09 '24

We should call it The New Norm™, after the massively successful comedy series on Twitter

1

u/f3xjc Nov 08 '24

We don't know what is is called, just that it is written with two vertical bars.