Math Department (Thesis/2007-08)

Irrational Numbers

Under the direction of: Paul Friedman

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In Math 199 you proved that $\sqrt 2$ is irrational. Perhaps you also proved that $\sqrt 3$ is, too. In fact, so is $\sqrt p$ for any prime, and in fact so is $\sqrt{\hbox{non-perfect square}}$. But you also learned that the set of irrational numbers is uncountable(!) so that you can't possibly list them all.

This thesis would be a study of irrational numbers and some of their algebraic and analytic properties, based on your interest and background. One suggestion is to do a reading of (sections of) Ivan Nivan's book, Irrational Numbers.

This is a one-term thesis.

Prerequisite: Math 332 or 336.

Math Department web pages Created: 25 Apr 2007 Last modified: Apr 25, 2007 6:10:08 PM Comments to: math@union.edu

Thesis Topics - B. Johnson Thesis Topics for 2007-2008 Thesis Topics - P. Friedman