HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: dseal@armltd.co.uk (David Seal)
Newsgroups: sci.math
Subject: Re: "Solvability" in Chess
Date: 28 Sep 92 11:52:17 GMT
Distribution: sci
Organization: A.R.M. Ltd, Swaffham Bulbeck, Cambs, UK

In article <1992Sep25.191712.29307@raven.alaska.edu>
fsmgs@camelot.acf-lab.alaska.edu (Michael Schmahl [Black-Robe Mage]) writes:

>edward.m.hummel writes
>> " ... more than a draw for each player (but less than a win), then
>> neither player would choose a draw *with best play*."
>But chess is a zero-sum game.  When one player wins, the other loses, and if it's  
>a draw, both players draw.  There are no cases where both players win, and it  
>happens rarely that both players lose (and these situations have nothing to do  
>with the game itself).

Yes, the assumption that chess is a zero-sum game is enough to make it
solvable, as are other assumptions, like assuming that in a situation where
a draw can be claimed under the 50-move rule, at least one player will be
interested in doing so, or that players will want to force a draw if they
can't force a win.

But it really *is* an assumption that chess is a zero-sum game, not a
provable fact. In fact, it can often be shown that in a particular game,
this isn't the case. E.g. consider the case of a player in a chess
tournament who needs just half a point more to clinch first place in the
tournament. For him, a draw is just as valuable as a win. If he's playing
someone from the middle of the rankings, to whom the usual win > draw > loss
order applies, the values of a draw to the two players have a greater sum
than the values of a first player win. I.e. it is *not* a zero-sum game.

And as I posted before, it is possible (though unlikely :-) that *both*
players will prefer an unending game to a draw. If this happens, neither
player will claim a draw when entitled to, with the result that the only
draws that will occur are those for which the rules make the draw mandatory
- e.g. stalemate.

The game is always solvable provided you know what the possible outcomes
are, how player A ranks them and how player B ranks them. Basically, you
apply the standard minimax procedure: if it gets stuck because of a loop
that neither A nor B wants to break out of (i.e. breaking out of the loop
would achieve a less highly ranked outcome than "infinite game" for both
players), then you allocate all nodes in the loop the infinite game outcome
and continue. But you have got either to have an infinite game outcome, or
to ensure there are no loops (e.g. by a tournament rule that draws must be
claimed when possible), or to ensure that the players prefer claiming a draw
to having an infinite game.

David Seal
dseal@armltd.co.uk

All opinions are mine only...
Newsgroups: sci.math,sci.logic
From: frank@Cookie.secapl.com (Frank Adams)
Subject: Re: ZFC etc. (was Re: Report on Philosophies of Physicists)
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1992 15:42:37 GMT
Organization: Security APL, Inc.

In article <TORKEL.92Sep26103351@bast.sics.se> torkel@sics.se (Torkel Franzen) writes:
>In article <1992Sep25.201622.40255@Cookie.secapl.com> frank@Cookie.secapl.com
> (Frank Adams) writes:
>
>   >The point is that in proving the consistency of propositional logic, we
>   >are using reasoning techniques which include all the techniques built
>   >in to propositional logic.
>
> >As for the other problem, let us step back for a moment to the point
> >where neither of the theorems in question had been proved.  In this
> >case, their status is very different.  If we were to have proved that
> >some formulae don't have a disjunctive normal form, this would have
> >been an interesting fact.  If we had proved that propositional logic
> >was inconsistent, it would have been a catastrophe -- there was
> >something wrong with our reasoning process.
>
>  This is quite arbitrary, as so often in counterfactual reflections
>of this kind. We may as well say that if we had proved that
>propositional logic (i.e. some formal system so designated) was
>inconsistent, it would have established the interesting fact that
>"propositional logic" was not in fact a correct formalization of our
>methods of reasoning.

I'll go you one better: this is a *better* thing to say.  It's still a very
different thing from a simple "that happens to be false", which disproof of
the other conjecture would have elicited.  Or to put it another way, our
reasoning process has led us to believe very strongly that propositional
logic *does* correctly formalize some of our methods of reasoning.  If it
were inconsistent, our reasoning would have failed in a major way.

> Neither Cantor nor any other mathematician
>took the view that the set-theoretic paradoxes invalidated even
>set-theoretical reasoning. But this, of course, is a different topic.
>
It did cause many mathematicians to *worry* that the paradoxes might
invalidate set-theoretical reasoning, however.
From: pkk36438@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Polygon)
Newsgroups: sci.math
Subject: Request: Info on Inverse Power Sum
Date: 27 Sep 92 21:04:51 GMT
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana


Any information or literature relating or refering to the solution of the
sum of a p-series, or simply Reimann's function gamma(p) where p is an
integer greater than 1, would be greatly welcome.  I am specificly looking
for any reference on the growth and/or the relation between p-series with
different p values.

Peter, UIUC
pkk36438@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu
From: a_rubin@dsg4.dse.beckman.com (Arthur Rubin)
Newsgroups: sci.math
Subject: Re: more on .999... = 10.0
Date: 29 Sep 92 23:06:58 GMT
Distribution: inet

In <1a9qi2INN898@uwm.edu> markh@csd4.csd.uwm.edu (Mark) writes:

>For that matter, it's an open question whether there even EXISTS a model of
>the real number system without infinitesimals in it.  As far as anyone knows,
>they all have infinitesimals in them.

WRONG.  If you can "talk" about infintesimals, then you can remove them.
--
Arthur L. Rubin: a_rubin@dsg4.dse.beckman.com (work) Beckman Instruments/Brea
216-5888@mcimail.com 70707.453@compuserve.com arthur@pnet01.cts.com (personal)
My opinions are my own, and do not represent those of my employer.
My interaction with our news system is unstable; please mail anything important.
From: ap@levangerhs.no (Andrei Prasolov)
Newsgroups: sci.math
Subject: Re: Z <-> Q formula
Date: 27 Sep 92 15:42:34 GMT
Organization: Hogskolen i Levanger

#Newsgroups: sci.math
#From: hiraga@Csli.Stanford.EDU (Yuzuru Hiraga)
#Subject: Z <-> Q formula
#Message-ID: <1992Sep27.085952.7534@Csli.Stanford.EDU>
#Date: Sun, 27 Sep 1992 08:59:52 GMT

## This may be a FAQ, but...

#The set of intergers Z and the set of rationals Q have the same cardinality,
#i.e. there exist a bijection between them.  So we all know that.
#But then, is there a "simple" formula that expresses any such mapping?
#You may use any device you please, but note that the subjective little
#"simple" is the criterion.

#-Yuzuru Hiraga

There is a simple formula for bijection NxN -> N:
f(m,n) = (m+n-1)(m+n-2)/2 + m.
There are similar formulae for N^k -> N which
involve polynomials of degree k.

              Andrei PRASOLOV
              Hoegskolen i Levanger
              Kirkegt 1, 7600 Levanger
              Norway

Tel. office 47-76-12656 
Telefax 47-76-12690
E-mail AP@LEVANGERHS.NO
From: Evan.E.Thomas@dartmouth.edu (Evan E. Thomas)
Newsgroups: sci.math
Subject: Re: Infinity
Date: 5 Oct 92 02:28:35 GMT
Organization: Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH
X-Posted-From: InterNews1.0a5@newshost.dartmouth.edu

In article <1367.2ac9ae4e@atlas.nafb.trw.com>
dsimon@atlas.nafb.trw.com writes:

> Does infinity actually exist, or is it simply a mathematical tool?  
> Does an infinity of something actually exist?  Is it *possible*
> for there to be an infinity of something?
> ----------
> Dan Simon

In terms of a physical "something" it would seem that if one had an
"infinite number" of objects, and took one away, one would have the
same number of objects.  (i.e. x-1=x)  While this may abstractly be
true for "infinity" I can not think of any real examples where if some
non-empty amount of a total is taken away the exact same amount
remains.  While it is true that a small enough amount of a substance
can be taken away for there not to make any real practical difference
(i.e. 1 atom out of 6.02 e + 23 atoms) but it is still not "exactly"
the same.  So I would argue that a physical example of infinity is
unlikely.

Evan Thomas
evant@coos.dartmouth.edu
From: dpick@math.uci.edu (Daniel Pick)
Newsgroups: sci.math
Subject: Re: Hawking's portrayal of Newton and Einstien
Date: 5 Oct 92 16:13:47 GMT
Article-I.D.: news.2AD069BB.11232
Organization: University of California, Irvine

In article <1992Oct4.184909.43577@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu> dchatterjee@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu writes:
>
> Hi !
>
> I was reading Stephen W.Hawking's " A Brief History of Time ". Hawking
> comments that Isaac Newton was an unpleasant character and had always
> (or most of the time) engaged in personal quarrels or brawls with his
> fellow scientists. This seems very amusing, because, why people of the
> stature of Newton be so mundane, while on a comparative scale, Einstien
> was more pleasant and very unassuming in appearance and of humble habits ?
>
> Seems to me that Hawking could be biased ! 
>
> Comments ? 
>
> - DC

No, Hawking is not biased, but it is not true that Newton often engaged in
personal quarrels or brawls.  On the contrary, several historians document that
Newton actually had a intense distaste for controversy, and often avoided
publishing his results to avoid it.  This disgust lies at the heart of the
priority dispute between Leibniz and Newton over the invention of calculus.  
It was only when Hooke persuaded Newton to publish his results on gravitation
that the world knew that Newton had discovered fluxions.

For further information, see Journey through Genius by William Dunham, Men
of Mathematics by E.T. Bell, and
The World of Mathematics, Vol. 1, edited by Martin Gardner (I think).

--Dan 8^)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Daniel Pick
Mathematics Department
Univ. of California, Irvine
Irvine, CA 92717
dpick@math.uci.edu
From: cxm7@po.CWRU.Edu (Colin Mclarty)
Newsgroups: sci.math
Subject: Re: Mattel says "Math is tough."
Date: 5 Oct 1992 21:07:57 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)
Reply-To: cxm7@po.CWRU.Edu (Colin Mclarty)
NNTP-Posting-Host: slc5.ins.cwru.edu


In a previous article, tedh@cylink.COM (Ted Hadley) says:

>In article <1992Oct5.084002.25808@nuscc.nus.sg> matmcinn@nuscc.nus.sg (Mcinnes B T (Dr)) writes:
>>iltiss@owlnet.rice.edu (Steven Patrick Iltis) writes:
>>: I don't normally read this news group, so I apologize if this is not
>>: the appropriate place to post this. But I believe this is relevant.
>>: 
>>:         Mattel has just released a new product. A Barbie doll that says
>>: "Math is tough".
>>
>>What would you have her say?: 
>
>How about "Math is Important" or "Learn math well and get a good job as a
>[computer scientist | engineer | physicist | ...]"
>
>
>-- 
>Ted A. Hadley  tedh@cylink.COM         

	You know kids are pretty quick to spot patronizing advice.
I don't know.  Maybe this "math is hard" is a bad thing.  But it
seems to me, both from memories of school and from watching kids
I know and teach now (but I teach at university) that the kids
who say something is hard tend to be the ones who ARE working at
it. 
	If Barbie said "I can't do math", or "math is stupid"
I'd get right on to that 800 number.  Those are the kinds of things
I hear from kids who DON'T get through math.  But math IS hard,
and I've heard that plenty of times in contexts quite unrelated
to this from people who do very well in it--as students and as
professionals.

	Of course this is aimed at girls.  But are you so sure that
if a girl hears something is hard she'll decide she can't do it?
Does anyone think you can turn boys off from something by telling
them it is hard?  I'm sure most of us who teach have at least
sometimes tried to ATTRACT a student to something by PROMISING
that it is hard.

Colin
Newsgroups: sci.math
From: hoffman@n1.math.umn.edu (John R. Hoffman)
Subject: finding the units digit of a big number
Organization: University of Minnesota
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1992 00:42:46 GMT


Recently someone posted about finding the first nonzero digit of 
(10^6)!

I was going through an old math contest that I took in high school and came  
across a similiar question (which I couldn't solve)

What is the units digit in the decimal expansion of 

(15 + \sqrt{220})^19 + (15 + \sqrt{220})^82.


Any simple solution would be appreciated.  ( I think calculators were not  
allowed during the exam)

Thanks

JRH
Newsgroups: sci.math,sci.physics
From: jarleb@athena.uio.no (Jarle Brinchmann)
Subject: Re: Another Cute Math Joke  (explanation of)
Reply-To: jarleb@athena.uio.no (Jarle Brinchmann)
Organization: Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics.
Date: Fri, 2 Oct 1992 12:37:55 GMT


--In article <1992Oct1.233811.8760@lmpsbbs.comm.mot.com>, bhv@areaplg2.corp.mot.com (Bronis Vidugiris) writes:
|>Newsgroups: sci.math,sci.physics
|>From: bhv@areaplg2.corp.mot.com (Bronis Vidugiris)
|>Subject: Re: Another Cute Math Joke  (explanation of)
|>
|>In article <marc.717947769@vieta.math.uni-sb.de> marc@vieta.math.uni-sb.de (Marc Conrad) writes:
|>)dms@krang.vis.citri.edu.au (David Mcgregor SQUIRE) writes:
|>)
|>)>Q: What do you get if you cross an elephant with a grape?
|>)
|>)>A: |elephant||grape|sin(theta)
|>)I'm stupid, but can someone explain this to me ??
|>)Marc
|>
|>Hmm.  Well, the reason it's funny is that the joke implies you are
|>taking a CROSS product of an elephant and a grape, but the math shows
|>a DOT product of an elephant and a grape!
|>
|>(if A and B are vectors, |A| * |B| * sin(theta) is one expression for the
|>dot product || -> absolute value, theta is the angle between the vectors).
|>
|>That's pretty funny :-) :-) :-)
|>
|>

Yes, espescially since you're wrong :-)

A dot B = |A||B| cos(theta)
A x B=|A||B| sin(theta).

Now, thats enough math for today.
Here's the excuse :


        TOP TEN EXCUSES FOR NOT DOING THE MATH HOMEWORK

1.      I accidentally divided by zero and my paper burst into flames.
2.      Isaac Newton's birthday.
3.      I could only get arbitrarily close to my textbook.  I couldn't
        actually reach it.
4.      I have the proof, but there isn't room to write it in this margin.
5.      I was watching the World Series and got tied up trying to prove
        that it converged.
6.      I have a solar powered calculator and it was cloudy.
7.      I locked the paper in my trunk but a four-dimensional dog got in
        and ate it.
8.      I couldn't figure out whether i am the square of negative one or
        i is the square root of negative one.
9.      I took time out to snack a doughnut and a cup of coffee.  I spent
        the rest of the night trying to figure which one to dunk.
10.     I could have sworn I put the homework inside a Klein bottle, but
        this morning I couldn't find it.

						Jarle.


      ---------------------------------------
       Internet: jarleb@medusa.uio.no         
       or        Jarle.Brinchmann@astro.uio.no
      ---------------------------------------
From: mih8447@usl.edu (Hebert Marc I)
Newsgroups: sci.math
Subject: Integrate f(x)= ln(abs(cos x))
Date: 27 Sep 92 15:01:06 GMT
Article-I.D.: usl.1992Sep27.150106.21432
Organization: University of Southwestern Louisiana

I hate to bother this group with this, but its Sunday, can't get my hands
on a CRC or mathematica, don't have much time, and I need to find the 
integral of ln(abs(cos x)), abs=>absolute value.  As soon as some kind 
soul will mail me a solution, I will remove this post.

Marc
From: chrisman@herb-ox.berkeley.edu (chrisman)
Newsgroups: sci.math
Subject: Re: 1, 2, 4, 8, 13...where have I seen it before?
Date: 30 Sep 1992 19:53:21 GMT
Organization: U.C. Berkeley Math. Department.
Distribution: na
NNTP-Posting-Host: herb-ox.berkeley.edu

I don't know if this sequence has anything to do with
yours, but here it is (an example of a sequence whose
first few terms are misleading):

Let A(n) be the maximum number of regions into which
a circle can be divided by drawing segments between
n points on the circle.                      

The first few terms are (starting with n=1)

      1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 31 (!).

                
Xref: sparky sci.math:12380 sci.math.symbolic:2576 sci.math.num-analysis:2864 k12.ed.math:1302
From: huang@deakin.OZ.AU (Weiguang Huang)
Newsgroups: sci.math,sci.math.symbolic,sci.math.num-analysis,k12.ed.math
Subject: RE: FTP address for SymbMath ?
Date: 29 Sep 1992 12:31:59 +1000
Organization: Deakin University, Victoria, Australia
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: sol.deakin.oz.au

From: <wrighte@cae.wisc.edu>
Subject: FTP address for SymbMath?

  The ftp address I have for  SymbMath system seems to be
non-functional from my location.  PLease send me the current
ftp site for American users.

Ed Wright
<wrighte@cae.wisc.edu>


	It has three versions: Shareware, Student, and Advanced. The 
shareware version is available from SIMTEL20 archives on anonymous FTP sites 
(wsmr-simtel20.army.mil as /calculator/sm211a.zip, rana.cc.deakin.oz.au as 
/huang/sm211a.zip, etc) or by e-mail from listserv@ndsuvm1.bitnet. 

Newsgroups: sci.math
From: hibrown@sarah.albany.edu (Herb Brown)
Subject: Re: symbolic algebra and teaching math/sciences
Organization: State University of New York at Albany
Date: Mon, 5 Oct 92 11:53:08 GMT

In article <WVENABLE.92Oct5114452@algona.stats.adelaide.edu.au> wvenable@algona.stats.adelaide.edu.au (Bill Venables) writes:
>>>>>> "Herb" == Herb Brown <hibrown@sarah.albany.edu> writes:
>
>Herb> We have been using MAPLE V in our Computer Classroom to teach various
>Herb> levels of mathematics with some success for the last 2 1/2 years. ...
>
>Here also.  However do you use the "Student package" only, (which requires
>more effort and imagination from the student), or do you simply use full
>strength Maple V?  [Here it's a bit complicated, but mostly full strength.]
>--
>___________________________________________________________________________
>Bill Venables, Dept. of Statistics, | Email: venables@stats.adelaide.edu.au
>Univ. of Adelaide, South Australia. | Tel: +61 8 228 5412  Fax: ...232 5670

Our Computer Classroom uses Amiga computers and so we use the full version
of Maple V in the Classroom. A student version does not exist for our
platform; indeed, one doesn't exist for most platforms that are able to
run Maple. 

Herb


-- 
Herb Brown  Math Dept  The Univ at Albany  Albany, NY 12222  (518) 442-4640
Director,                                          hibrown@math.albany.edu  
Computer Assisted Instruction in Mathematics       hibrown@csc.albany.edu
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: es2j+@andrew.cmu.edu (Edward John Sabol)
Newsgroups: sci.math.symbolic
Subject: Re: Advice sought: Purchasing Mathematica
Date: 1 Oct 92 22:25:07 GMT
Article-I.D.: andrew.Memyh3y00VoGQ4pkoJ
Organization: Doctoral student, Physics, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA

Excerpts from netnews.sci.math.symbolic: 24-Sep-92 Re: Advice sought:
Purchasi.. by David Knapp@spot.Colorad 
> I am told by others at Wolfram that there is a:
>  
> Student Edition (no math co support)
>  
> and a
>  
> Student priced regular product (real product, no tech support after next
> release)
>  
> I was given a student price for the real McCoy of $315.00.  The "student
> version" is cheaper (I'm told) but is not worth no having math co support.

Wow, this is just what I was looking for. I haven't heard of such a
beast, but if it exists and at that price, it looks like I may have
found the one the purchase!

Thanks,
Ed
From: jly@buc.edu.au
Newsgroups: sci.math.symbolic
Subject: test
Keywords: Test
Date: 6 Oct 92 06:53:23 GMT
Organization: BUC
NNTP-Posting-Host: 141.132.52.13

This is a test
Newsgroups: sci.math.symbolic
From: jake@skatter.usask.ca
Subject: Re: where does one find feyncalc and feynarts?
Organization: University of Saskatchewan
Date: Sat, 26 Sep 1992 21:13:55 GMT

From article <1992Sep26.181745.24450@news.cs.brandeis.edu>, by fell@binah.cc.brandeis.edu:
> Can anyone post the archive sites where the mathematica packages 
> feyncalc and feynarts can be obtained? 
> Thanks

I believe that they can now be found on the Mathsource archive server.

Or you can try to mail Rolf Mertig (the author of FeynCalc) at

	mertig@vax.rz.uni-wuerzburg.dbp.de


Newsgroups: sci.math.symbolic
From: sean@cae.wisc.edu (Sean Rutledge)
Subject: Re: Mathematica Book (2nd ed)
Organization: U of Wisconsin-Madison College of Engineering
Date: 5 Oct 92 10:58:54 CDT

In article <2641@ceylon.gte.com> sgutfreund@gte.com writes:
>My copy of the Mathematica Book (2nd edition) is beginning to
>fall apart. This is unusual for me, since I am pretty careful
>with texts.
>

Note, this happens more quickly with the paperback, but it
occurs with the hardcover as well.
From: fell@binah.cc.brandeis.edu
Newsgroups: sci.math.symbolic
Subject: cost of Form 2
Date: 3 Oct 92 02:50:26 GMT
Reply-To: fell@binah.cc.brandeis.edu
Organization: Brandeis University

Does anyone have any idea of the academic price of Form 2 for the Next?
Thanks
Newsgroups: sci.math.symbolic
From: moksha!mgb (Michael Branton)
Subject: tick labels in Maple
Reply-To: mgb@stetson.bitnet
Organization: Totally Disorganized
Date: Sun, 27 Sep 1992 14:45:58 GMT

I've been trying to figure out how to get Maple V to plot some data, the range  
of values for the x-axis being 1790 -> 1990 (i.e. years.) Maple wishes to label  
the tick marks using exponential notation (e.g. 1.79e+03 for 1790.) I've looked  
through the documentation, and can't seem to find a way to control the format  
of the labels for the tick marks. Does anyone know how to do this ? A mail  
reply is preferred; post if you think the answer is of general interest.  
Thanks.



---


-Michael


  ...uflorida!ki4pv!moksha!mgb   (NeXT mail)  UUCP

  mgb@stetson.BITNET
-- 


-Michael

Newsgroups: sci.math.symbolic
From: fell@binah.cc.brandeis.edu
Subject: where does one find feyncalc and feynarts?
Reply-To: fell@binah.cc.brandeis.edu
Organization: Brandeis University
Date: Sat, 26 Sep 1992 18:17:45 GMT

Can anyone post the archive sites where the mathematica packages 
feyncalc and feynarts can be obtained? 
Thanks
From: t68@nikhefh.nikhef.nl (Jos Vermaseren)
Newsgroups: sci.math.symbolic
Subject: Re: Integral Tables
Date: 30 Sep 92 08:32:52 GMT
Organization: Nikhef-H, Amsterdam (the Netherlands).

In article <rt+p=-+@lynx.unm.edu>, jpg@spectre.unm.edu (Jeffrey P. Golden) writes:
> Reply-To: jpg@macsyma.com
> 
> Most CAS define their `SQRT' function to mean principal branch. 
> There's nothing wrong with that.  Check how many can return -2 as 
> a possible answer when given sqrt(4) .
> 

This problem of branchcuts is rather important though. Consider for
instance the integral

   1      1-x
  /      /                   1
  | dx  | dy ------------------------------------
 /     /     ( a1*x^2+a2*y^2+a3*x*y+a4*x+a5*y+a6)
0     0

I have not yet seen a CAS that can do this integral. Last time I tried
it with Mathematica (admittedly quite a while ago) it worked for more
than an hour on a NeXTstation and finally gave some very strange message
before quitting. Maple comes much quicker to the conclusion that after
doing the first integral and rewriting it a number of times it cannot
handle the problems of the potential zeroes and negative arguments in the
logarithms. This, I believe, is still one of the great weaknesses in the
current integrators.
My problem is: in my work I have to take integrals like this for breakfast.
This is the easy one.
Let us hope for some breakthrough here, but I am not going to hold my breath.

Jos Vermaseren