surreal number
Noun

surreal number (plural surreal numbers)

  1. (mathematics) Any element of a field equivalent to the real numbers augmented with infinite and infinitesimal numbers (respectively larger and smaller (in absolute value) than any positive real number).
    Conway's construction of surreal numbers relies on the use of transfinite induction.
    Conway's approach was to build numbers from scratch using a construction inspired by his game theory research; the resulting class of surreal numbers proved much larger than the class of real numbers.
    • 1986, Harry Gonshor, An Introduction to the Theory of Surreal Numbers, Cambridge University Press, 1987, Paperback, ISBN 9780521312059.
    • 2012, Fredrik Nordvall Forsberg, Anton Setzer, A Finite Axiomatisation of Inductive-Inductive Definitions, Ulrich Berger, Hannes Diener, Peter Schuster, Monika Seisenberger (editors), Logic, Construction, Computation, Ontos Verlag, page 263 ↗,
      The class2 of surreal numbers is defined inductively, together with an order relation on surreal numbers wich is also defined inductively:
      • A surreal number X=(X_L,X_R) consists of two sets X_L and X_R of surreal numbers, such that no element from X_L is greater than any element from X_R.
      • A surreal number Y=(Y_L,Y_R) is greater than another surreal number X=(X_L,X_R), X\le Y, if and only if
      − there is no x\in X_L such that Y\le x, and
      − there is no y\in Y_R such that y\le X.
    • 2018, Steven G. Krantz, Essentials of Mathematical Thinking, Taylor & Francis (Chapman & Hall/CRC Press), page 247 ↗,
      Here we shall follow Conway's exposition rather closely. Let L and R be two sets of numbers. Assume that no member of L is greater than or equal to any member of R. Then \{ L\vert R\} is a surreal number. All surreal numbers are constructed in this fashion.
Translations
  • French: nombre surréel
  • Italian: numero surreale
  • Portuguese: número surreal



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