The concept of infinity is one of the most important, and at the same time, one of the most mysterious concepts of science. Already in antiquity many philosophers and mathematicians pondered over its contradictory nature. In mathematics, the contradictions connected with infinity intensified after the creation, at the end of the 19th century, of the theory of infinite sets and the subsequent discovery, soon after, of paradoxes in this theory. At the time, many scientists ignored the paradoxes and used set theory extensively in their work, while others subjected set-theoretic methods in mathematics to harsh criticism. The debate intensified when a group of French mathematicians, who wrote under the pseudonym of Nicolas Bourbaki, tried to erect the whole edifice of mathematics on the single notion of a set. Some mathematicians greeted this attempt enthusiastically while others regarded it as an unnecessary formalization, an attempt to tear mathematics away from life-giving practical applications that sustain it. These differences notwithstanding, Bourbaki has had a significant influence on the evolution of mathematics in the twentieth century. In this book we try to tell the reader how the idea of the infinite arose and developed in physics and in mathematics, how the theory of infinite sets was constructed, what paradoxes it has led to, what significant efforts have been made to eliminate the resulting contradictions, and what routes scientists are trying to find that would provide a way out of the many difficulties.

In Search of Infinity

Science & Math

Vilenkin, N.Ya.

Astronomy & Space Science

Birkhauser

The concept of infinity has been for hundreds of years one of the most fascinating and elusive ideas to tantalize the minds of scholars and lay people alike. The theory of infinite sets lies at the heart of much of mathematics, yet is has produced a series of paradoxes that have led many scholars to doubt the soundness of it foundations. The author of this book presents a popular-level account of the roads followed by human thought in attempts to understand the idea of the infinite in mathematics and physics. In doing so, he brings to the general reader a deep insight into the nature of the problem and its importance to an understanding of our world.

The first systematic theory of generalized functions (also known as distributions) was created in the early 1950s, although some aspects were developed much earlier, most notably in the definition of the Green's function in mathematics and in the work of Paul Dirac on quantum electrodynamics in physics. The six-volume collection, Generalized Functions, written by I. M. Gelfand and co-authors and published in Russian between 1958 and 1966, gives an introduction to generalized functions and presents various applications to analysis, PDE, stochastic processes, and representation theory. The unifying idea of Volume 5 in the series is the application of the theory of generalized functions developed in earlier volumes to problems of integral geometry, to representations of Lie groups, specifically of the Lorentz group, and to harmonic analysis on corresponding homogeneous spaces. The book is written with great clarity and requires little in the way of special previous knowledge of either group representation theory or integral geometry; it is also independent of the earlier volumes in the series. The exposition starts with the definition, properties, and main results related to the classical Radon transform, passing to integral geometry in complex space, representations of the group of complex unimodular matrices of second order, and harmonic analysis on this group and on most important homogeneous spaces related to this group. The volume ends with the study of representations of the group of real unimodular matrices of order two.

Generalized Functions: Integral Geometry and Representation Theory (5) (Ams Chelsea Publishing)

Gelfand, I.M.

Graev. M. I.

Mathematics

Chelsea Pub. Co

The first systematic theory of generalized functions (also known as distributions) was created in the early 1950s, although some aspects were developed much earlier, most notably in the definition of the Green's function in mathematics and in the work of Paul Dirac on quantum electrodynamics in physics. The six-volume collection, Generalized Functions, written by I. M. Gelfand and co-authors and published in Russian between 1958 and 1966, gives an introduction to generalized functions and presents various applications to analysis, PDE, stochastic processes, and representation theory.

Generalized Functions (Ams Chelsea Publishing)

Pyatetskii-shapiro, I. I.

Shilov, G. E.

Amer Mathematical Society

The book full of good theoretical material and examples and also interesting exercise with answers in the end.

Combinatorics

Academic Press

Matematika. 6 klass. Uchebnik. FGOS (kolichestvo tomov: 2)

Mnemozina

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Vilenkin, N.Ya.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Vilenkin, N.Ya.