Transreal limits expose category errors in IEEE 754 floating-point arithmetic and in mathematics

The IEEE 754 standard for oating-point arithmetic is widely used in computing. It is based on real arithmetic and is made total by adding both a positive and a negative infinity, a negative zero, and many Not-a-Number (NaN) states. The IEEE infinities are said to have the behaviour of limits. Transreal arithmetic is total. It also has a positive and a negative infinity but no negative zero, and it has a single, unordered number, nullity. We elucidate the transreal tangent and extend real limits to transreal limits. Arguing from this firm foundation, we maintain that there are three category errors in the IEEE 754 standard. Firstly the claim that IEEE infinities are limits of real arithmetic confuses limiting processes with arithmetic. Secondly a defence of IEEE negative zero confuses the limit of a function with the value of a function. Thirdly the definition of IEEE NaNs confuses undefined with unordered. Furthermore we prove that the tangent function, with the infinities given by geometrical con- struction, has a period of an entire rotation, not half a rotation as is commonly understood. This illustrates a category error, confusing the limit with the value of a function, in an important area of applied mathe- matics { trigonometry. We brie y consider the wider implications of this category error. Another paper proposes transreal arithmetic as a basis for floating- point arithmetic; here we take the profound step of proposing transreal arithmetic as a replacement for real arithmetic to remove the possibility of certain category errors in mathematics. Thus we propose both theo- retical and practical advantages of transmathematics. In particular we argue that implementing transreal analysis in trans- floating-point arith- metic would extend the coverage, accuracy and reliability of almost all computer programs that exploit real analysis { essentially all programs in science and engineering and many in finance, medicine and other socially beneficial applications.

A obra de triangulis omnimodis libri quinque de Johann Müller Regiomontanus (1436 1476): uma contribuição para o desenvolvimento da trigonometria

Trigonometry, branch of mathematics related to the study of triangles, developed from practical needs, especially relating to astronomy, Surveying and Navigation. Johann Müller, the Regiomontanus (1436-1476) mathematician and astronomer of the fifteenth century played an important role in the development of this science. His work titled De Triangulis Omnimodis Libri Quinque written around 1464, and published posthumously in 1533, presents the first systematic exposure of European plane and spherical trigonometry, a treatment independent of astronomy. In this study we present a description, translation and analysis of some aspects of this important work in the history of trigonometry. Therefore, the translation was performed using a version of the book Regiomontanus on Triangles of Barnabas Hughes, 1967. In it you will find the original work in Latin and an English translation. For this study, we use for most of our translation in Portuguese, the English version, but some doubt utterance, statement and figures were made by the original Latin. In this work, we can see that trigonometry is considered as a branch of mathematics which is subordinated to geometry, that is, toward the study of triangles. Regiomontanus provides a large number of theorems as the original trigonometric formula for the area of a triangle. Use algebra to solve geometric problems and mainly shows the first practical theorem for the law of cosines in spherical trigonometry. Thus, this study shows some of the development of the trigonometry in the fifteenth century, especially with regard to concepts such as sine and cosine (sine reverse), the work discussed above, is of paramount importance for the research in the history of mathematics more specifically in the area of historical analysis and critique of literary sources or studying the work of a particular mathematician

Dificuldades no processo ensino aprendizagem de trigonometria por meio de atividades

This study analyses the difficulties that teachers of high school face in the process of the teaching of trigonometry through activities in a construtivist focus. It contains a review of some publications and dissertations related with the study of trigonometry elaborated in the last years by several authors. It resorts to the study of teaching engineering as an instrument used in the research. It also presents a set of activities which will serve as sample to other teachers of mathematics; and points ways for the overcome of the difficulties found