tan/ What's the prettiest number....

[GenkiGirl]

Hey...as a bunch a number geeks...I was wondering what number you think is the prettiest....You can define pretty any way you want..

To start us off I will begin with my favorite (and future tattoo)

Pi :-)

just thinking of it makes me happy :D :D

[Quasi]

I've always been fond of Avogadro's number, or roughly 6.02×1023.

For a single digit number I've always been fond of the curves on a well drawn "8"

At work I would love to see a big fat "0"....as my reserve deficiency. My current reserve deficiency sometimes seems to be much closer to Avogadro's number.....

[Ron Weasley]

88 just has sooo much symmetry. Or maybe its just two pairs of eyes staring at you! . . . or a butterfly . . . or the beginning of a honeycomb . . . or . . .

[Shrek]

6 7/8 - from the lyrics of an old Jerry Jeff Walker tune.

[miw5]

69

[Maine-iac]

9.

Three is a lovely number. 3*3 is nine. Heavenly.

(On the other hand, 7734 is hell. :evil: )

(Edited to correct an egregious typo so kindly pointed out to me. :wink: )

[Franchise]

Did you mean 3 * 3? 3 ^ 3 is 27 where I'm from. :P

[The Mister]

What could be more pretty than the answer to life, the universe and everything? :-D

[Ex4T]

The 2 which used to be in the middle of Course and Woman.

[Traina]

Perfect 10.

[ASA_Woman]

The 2 which used to be in the middle of Course and Woman.

That was nice ExThreme :D

[Ben Kenobi]

What could be more pretty than the answer to life, the universe and everything? :-D

Don't encourage him.

[Quasi]

To start us off I will begin with my favorite (and future tattoo)

Pi :-)

That could be tattooed in several ways. Are you going to go with an approximation like 3.14 or 22/7 or just have the guy keep going out in decimal places until you run out of skin? :wink:

I guess the symbol is the easiest way to go but you don't get any of those pretty numbers that way. BTW - where are you planning on getting this tattoo?

[GenkiGirl]

Gonna be lazy...and deal with less pain...but it's just going to be the symbol...and in the small of my back.. :-)
A stupid 30 page paper on Pi for a "History of Math" course and now I'm hooked on the number for life...

Arrg :o

GG

[Franchise]

Couldn't you just have listed Pi to a sufficient number of digits to fill 30 pages? :P

[GenkiGirl]

No such luck...but the cover of my essay had a couple thousand digits of pi :-)

[Higher Authority]

I think 24 is the prettiest number.
DEEP THOUGHT was dyslexic. :roll:

[Pseudolus]

i is the prettiest number.

(Or should that be "i AM the prettiest number"?)

[Mtl guru]

I like e

[Maine-iac]

At my college there was a car with a bumper sticker that read

Mathematicians: We're number e^(-pi * i)

[Pseudolus]

I'm shocked that no one's posted "6" yet. Grown actuaries have been known to weep at the mere sight of one.

[Bonnie]

I just adore 4, the number for me.
You can't ignore 4, it's less than 5 and more than 3.

[Quasi]

Of course 7 is the scariest number....you know, because 7 8 9. The classics are always funny. Well, maybe not.

And 1 is the loneliest number....

Yeah, e is pretty cool....what with it being both a number and a vowel and all. Very practical.

[Traci]

I'm with Pseudolus -

A 6! A 6! My kingdom for a 6!!!

(And you can all see me do my Halle Berry Oscar impersonation again!)

[Moderator2]

Odd or even! Odd or even!

I really like mod 2.

Thanks GG, this thread is turning out to be a lot of fun.

[Mulan]

I've always LOVED 400....don't know why..

[Cannonball]

"When I was seventeen,
it was a very good year..."

17, baby! Yeah!!! Take me way back to when I was 17!

[Cynic]

My number is 40. When you are 40, you are the youngest of the old and the oldest of the young. (i.e. you are excluded from any group--more time for yourself).

[Drzy]

No way! 40 isn't the oldest of the young.... 40 is ancient!!! You're just a small jump away from being a gramps and boppin' people over the head with your cane.

[GenkiGirl]

YOu're welcome....

Does anyone remember the numbers that were involved in the proof that God exists...I vaguly remeber it ...all I know is that it had [/i]i and maybe e...and I think pi too...

GG

[Moderator2]

There is a story about Diderot, the Encyclopædist and materialist, a foremost figure in the intellectual awakening which immediately preceded the French Revolution. Diderot was staying at the Russian court, where his elegant flippancy was entertaining the nobility. Fearing that the faith of her retainers was at stake, the Tsaritsa commissioned Euler, the most distinguished mathematician of the time, to debate with Diderot in public. Diderot was informed that a mathematician has established a proof of the existence of God. He was summoned to court without being told the name of his opponent. Before the assembled court, Euler accosted him with the following pronouncement, which was uttered with due gravity: "(a + bn)/n = x, donc Dieu existe, repondez." Algebra was Arabic to Diderot. . . . He left the court abruptly amid the titters of the assembly, confined himself to his chambers, demanded a safe conduct, and promptly returned to France.

http://www.cut-the-knot.com/manifesto/need_it.shtml

[Double High C]

YOu're welcome....

Does anyone remember the numbers that were involved in the proof that God exists...I vaguly remeber it ...all I know is that it had [/i]i and maybe e...and I think pi too...

GG

Perhaps this has nothing to do with your question, but I remember in the movie Pi, the mathematician (Cohen) said that God has 216 names.

[JO]

That's funny, I read the topic and automatically thought of the movie pi and 216, the number of God. ;)

[Double High C]

That's funny, I read the topic and automatically thought of the movie pi and 216, the number of God. ;)

Is JO short for JehOva?

[JO]

No, it's the short for a "JO" session if you know what I mean.. :lol:

[Double High C]

No, it's the short for a "JO" session if you know what I mean.. :lol:

Hey, get thee to the "Catholics and Sex" thread!

(in Nonactuarial Topics)

[openminded]

eleven

[Pseudolus]

Didn't Arthur C. Clarke write about the 9 Billion Names of God?

[42]

What could be more pretty than the answer to life, the universe and everything? :-D

Don't encourage him.
No wonder my ears were ringing. 42 of course.

And 872 is by far the worst number. I get shivers just typing it. Don't ask.

[E. Blackadder]

33,554,432

[Ben Kenobi]

220 and 284

[Drewby]

8675309

Jenny, Jenny, who can I turn to?

[Studyin' Machine]

My all time favorite, infinity.[/img]

[Klaymen]

In number theory, Zeta(2) = 1 / 1^2 + 1 / 2^2 + 1 / 3^2 + ....
which equals Pi^2 / 6.

The value for Zeta (4) is known, = SUM (1 / X^4) as well, and I believe there is a formula for Zeta (2n)

My favorite number would be Zeta (3) for which there is no known expression.

[elleminopee]

I'm having a hard time deciding if my favorite number is gazillion or bazillion.

[Han Solo]

For some reason, I always liked the sound of a google. Or even a googleplex. Just imagine Carl Sagan's voice saying them.

[Crystal Dragon.]

Can you say "Billions and Billions..." (we miss, you dude!)

'69 was a great year; as is the position, but this is supposed to be family oriented so that's all I have to say about that...

I like 256 for its power

You know 3 is the first number used to prime the pump; it gets all the other numbers going...

...and I've always like i because it's imaginary; just like all my friends!

[Mel-o-rama]

YOu're welcome....

Does anyone remember the numbers that were involved in the proof that God exists...I vaguly remeber it ...all I know is that it had [/i]i and maybe e...and I think pi too...

GG

Perhaps this has nothing to do with your question, but I remember in the movie Pi, the mathematician (Cohen) said that God has 216 names.

That's weird. I thought 216 was an evil number (6*6*6). They use it in the Left Behind Series. Woooo!

My favorite number used to be 32,768.

Right now it's the golden mean: [sqrt(5)+1]/2. This is the ratio where addition and multiplication converge together.

Finally a question for y'all. Does the number 322 have any significance?

[Ben Kenobi]

Yes. Aristotle died in 322 B.C.

[Crystal Dragon.]

...golden mean: [sqrt(5)+1]/2. This is the ratio where addition and multiplication converge together.


huh? :-?

[Semprini]

Right now, my favorite is Khintchine's Constant, one of many which can be found here (http://pauillac.inria.fr/algo/bsolve/constant/constant.html)

[Antimony]

I've always been fond of Avogadro's number, or roughly 6.02×1023.

Quasi,

That's 6.022 * 10^23 (It's ok, you were only 20 OoM off... :wink: )

That being said, my favorite is probably 7, followed closely by, pi, e, i, the speed of light in a vacuum(c), and, of course, 6.

[42]

Finally a question for y'all. Does the number 322 have any significance?
Sure - it's 7 2/3 times me! :slug:

[Mel-o-rama]

Finally a question for y'all. Does the number 322 have any significance?
Sure - it's 7 2/3 times me! :slug:

Actually I was hoping for a non-42 related answer.

[Ben Kenobi]

...golden mean: [sqrt(5)+1]/2. This is the ratio where addition and multiplication converge together.


huh? :-?

I don't know, either, but it is the limit of the ratio of consecutive terms of the Fibonnaci series.

Or maybe he meant that it's the only number for which x - 1 = 1 / x (which it is).

[Mel-o-rama]

...golden mean: [sqrt(5)+1]/2. This is the ratio where addition and multiplication converge together.


huh? :-?

If you square the golden ratio (I can't remember if they call it "thi" or "phi", so I'll call it "R"), You end up adding 1. In other words:

R^2 = R + 1.

If you keep multiplying by R, you can produce a fibonacci series:

R^n = R^(n-1) + R^(n-2)

Thus, multiplication becomes addition.

Also, you can express any whole number as a sum of unique powers of R.
It's such a neat number!

[Ben Kenobi]

I'm not seeing that last property. Any integral power of φ has to have an uncancelled multiple of sqrt(5), doesn't it?

[Mel-o-rama]

Oh yeah. You are allowed to use negative integral powers. In fact, I think you have to to get the sqrt(5) term to cancel out.

Here's an example:

30 = R^7 + R^-1 + R^-3 + R^-5 + R^-8

Give me any positive (practical) integer and I can give you the R expansion.

[thing]

The golden mean, a.k.a. phi, is a lot of fun. And 6 is perfect, but so is 28. I'd pick i before e, even after c. 42 explains a lot (especially in this forum). I once reduced my high school chem. teacher to tears of laughter when she asked me to pick a number between 1 and 10, and I said pi.

But I'm partial to primes. To pick a favorite, however, is difficult. I'd say 5, or 23. 5 is handy, no doubt. And it's the only prime which is the sum of all previous primes. But 23 is the first prime all of whose digits are prime.

23.

[Ozric Tentacles]

I once reduced my high school chem. teacher to tears of laughter when she asked me to pick a number between 1 and 10, and I said pi.She was easily amused, then. And the sum of the digits of 5 is also prime. :-P

[42]

Finally a question for y'all. Does the number 322 have any significance?
Sure - it's 7 2/3 times me! :slug:

Actually I was hoping for a non-42 related answer.

But of what interest would something non-42 related be?? Stupid humans. :shake:

[Mel-o-rama]

Alrighty then, 42, you asked for it!

42 = phi^7 + phi^5 + phi^1 + phi^-3 + phi^-8

[egg]

I am just wondering, if 42 is playing a sport and he is giving a 110% is he then 46.2?

[thing]

And the sum of the digits of 5 is also prime. :-P

LOL. Alright, then, 5. Not that I'd wish one upon anyone...

[Mel-o-rama]

Hey! I finally got my new avatar to work!

Can anyone guess what me new favorite number is?

[Polly Nomial]

Hey! I finally got my new avatar to work!

Can anyone guess what me new favorite number is?

I dunno, but I have a friend Al Lefnaught who might.

[Polly Nomial]

Right now, my favorite is Khintchine's Constant, one of many which can be found here (http://pauillac.inria.fr/algo/bsolve/constant/constant.html)

Thanks for the great link!

[Ben Kenobi]

Are we feeling a little transfinite today?

More to the point: Is there a transfinite number whose cardinality is greater than that of the integers but less than that of the reals?

[Mel-o-rama]

Someone tried to tell me that someone succeeded in doing that just recently. He said that someone proved that there is an order of infinity between aleph-0 and aleph-1. But I can't find anything to back him up. I've always been under the impression that it's impossible to prove or disprove that a middle infinity exists.

[Ben Kenobi]

I was under the impression it's formally undecidable as well, but this link (http://www.cs.unb.ca/~alopez-o/math-faq/mathtext/node37.html#SECTION0010300000000000000000) seems to call that into question. I'll have to check with my father, who's been doing some exploration of this with his retirement freetime.

[Pseudolus]

I'll have to check with my father, who's been doing some exploration of this with his retirement freetime.

You know, I hear some people learn to golf...

[thing]

Someone tried to tell me that someone succeeded in doing that just recently. He said that someone proved that there is an order of infinity between aleph-0 and aleph-1. But I can't find anything to back him up. I've always been under the impression that it's impossible to prove or disprove that a middle infinity exists.

Cohen showed in the 60's that it was consistent with ZFC to assume either that Alef<sub>1</sub> = c or that Alef<sub>1</sub> < c. But my recollection is the definition of Alef<sub>1</sub> is the first transfinite not equal to Alef<sub>0</sub>.

Edited to add enough space below the bottom line for the subscripts to show.
Edited again because that > was in fact supposed to be a < and really, it was just a typo, honest.

Edited by Mod2 to disable HTML and remove the duplication that was generated by HTML when it took the < and > as tags.

[Ben Kenobi]

Cohen showed in the 60's that it was consistent with ZFC to assume either that Alef₁ = c or that Alef₁ > c. But my recollection is the definition of Alef₁ is the first transfinite not equal to Alef₀.

The second statement is correct, which means the first isn't. Aleph-1 may be less than c. It may not be greater, since c does not equal Aleph-0.

[Mel-o-rama]

But if there is an infinity between aleph-0 and aleph-1, then it is possible for c to be less than aleph-1 and not be aleph-0.

[Quasi]

I've always been fond of Avogadro's number, or roughly 6.02×1023.

Quasi,

That's 6.022 * 10^23 (It's ok, you were only 20 OoM off... :wink: )

That being said, my favorite is probably 7, followed closely by, pi, e, i, the speed of light in a vacuum(c), and, of course, 6.

I thought I typed it in correctly...must have screwed up the "^" somehow. Thanks for the correction, 6.02 x 1023 is butt ugly compared to Avogadro's number.

[Ben Kenobi]

Well, my father says that while the continuum hypothesis is formally undecidable, the drift of thought in modern set theory is that it is, in fact, not true.

The extent to which something can be true in mathematics if it is not provable, or what this even means, is an interesting question. However, I wouldn't think about it that hard, since it drove Cantor, Godel, and at least one other mathematician into mental breakdowns. (It wasn't Nash--the Reimann Hypothesis is what send him over the edge.)

[Lee Mellon]

Reynolds. Reynolds is the coolest number.

[42]

I'll have to check with my father, who's been doing some exploration of this with his retirement freetime.

You know, I hear some people learn to golf...

:lol: I think we all understand just a little bit better why Obi is the way he is! :P

[Mel-o-rama]

I did some more research, but couldn't find where anyone claimed to find an aleph between aleph-0 (countable numbers) and aleph-1 (real numbers). I did see tons of references to the formal undecidability of the question. Like the fifth geometric axiom (parallel lines), you can either choose to have an infinity between aleph-0 and aleph-1, or not. Whichever way you choose doesn't contradict set theory, but it does change the type of mathematics you end up working with. Fortunately, none of this will affect the parts of mathematics we use for passing actuarial exams. (Woo hoo!)

If the question is formally undecidable, then it doesn't matter if anyone claimed to have found a intermediate infinity. What would really be cool if someone discovered that the middle infinty not only exists, but must according to all the other axioms we already have in place. If would be like discovering that parallel lines MUST NEVER meet based solely on the four axioms before it.

If something cool like that has happened, I would have had no problem finding something to back up what I heard, and I'm sure one of you would have heard about it. Now I'm thinking that a newspaper was sensationalizing old news. (Like they never do that.)

[Ben Kenobi]

The parallel postulate will never be proven, nor will the continuum hypothesis.

What it seems to boil down to is that the "continuum is true" version of set theory produces such counter-intuitive results that most set theorists are reluctant to think it is "really true" (whatever that may mean under the circumstances). But non-Euclidean geometry has its applications, and I wonder if continuum set theory might not as well.

[42]

The last few posts remind me of a couple of Far Side greeting cards.

The front of the first card shows a picture of a man scolding his dog for getting into the garbage can, and the caption reads "What we say to our dogs": "That's it, Sparky. I've had it with you. If you get into that garbage one more time, Sparky, it's out into the back yard for you. Do you hear me, Sparky?" Inside the card, the caption reads "What our dogs hear": "Blah blah, Sparky. Blah blah blah blah blah. Blah blah blah blah-blah blah blah-blah blah blah blah, Sparky, blah blah blah-blah blah blah blah blah blah. Blah blah blah blah, Sparky?

The second card is identical, except it's a cat getting scolded instead of a dog, so the caption reads "What we say to our cats": "That's it, Fluffy. I've had it with you. If you get into that garbage one more time, Fluffy, it's out into the back yard for you. Do you hear me, Fluffy?" Inside the card, the caption reads "What our cats hear": "Blah blah, blah-blah. Blah blah blah blah blah. Blah blah blah blah-blah blah blah-blah blah blah blah, blah-blah, blah blah blah-blah blah blah blah blah blah. Blah blah blah blah, blah-blah?

Sorry to interupt. Mel and Ben, you were blah-blahing about something ... :duh:

[Ben Kenobi]

For the set-theory impaired among us . . . .

The lowest infinity is the set of positive integers, or any set which can be placed into one-to-one correspondence with the members of that set. Such a set is "countably infinite". For example, since we can figure out the n^th prime (given sufficient computation time), the prime numbers are countably infinite. Somewhat more surprisingly, so are the rational numbers (I think we covered this in a troll thread a few months ago). All of these sets share the same cardinal number, aleph₁.

Georg Cantor demonstrated (http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/alabaster/A479180) that the real numbers cannot be placed into one-to-one correspondence with the positive integers. He hypothesized that the set of reals (denoted as c, for "continuum") was the next largest infinite set. This is known as the "Continuum Hypothesis". Like Euclid's fifth postulate, it looks as if it should be derivable from other, simpler postulates (of set theory, rather than of geometry), but it can be proven that it is not.

[Mel-o-rama]

Oh, you're just jealous that our favorite number isn't "42". We like to transcend ordinary numbers. We may consider aleph-42 if that would make you happy.

About blah, blah, who would be the dog in this case? :P

[42]

:duh: Just call me "Fluffy".

[Mel-o-rama]

Okay Ben. I've been doing some more thinking. (And this really is blah, blah). Non-Euclidean geometry does have an application in real life. Mathematics that allows transinfinite infinities doesn't have any apparent application, at least so far. But a mathematical system can be constructed that does allow transinfinite infinities. Just because we can comprehend a mathematical system, does it "exist"? Is there some application that we haven't found yet? Is there a secret to the universe that we can discover from developing this mathematical system?

On the other hand, is it possible to imagine pure mathematics, which has nothing at all to do with the universe?

(Wait for me Cantor and Nash! Here I come!)

[Ben Kenobi]

The guy who thought of matrix algebra was convinced that it would never have any practical application.

[Darth Tater]

My favorite number is always the biggest (currently) known prime which I believe is :2^13466917 -1. Which has about 4 million digits. I could post them all, but I might upset someone. :shake:

[Mel-o-rama]

That's nothing compared to Mega = Circle(2).

(I can't believe I found a real link to support it. I learned it from an obscure book in high school, and no one I've talked to has ever heard of it before me.)

http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Mega.html