Defining a "real number" ------------------------ Natural Numbers (granted) 1 2 3 4 5 ... Integers? "I want to close my number set under the operation of subtraction." (a1, a2) - (b1, b2) = (a1 + b2, a2 + b1) a = (3, 4); b = (5, 6); (a1, a2) equals (b1, b2) if a1 + b2 = a2 + b1 Rationals? "I want to close my number set under the operation of division." (a1, a2) / (b1, b2) = (a1*b2, a2*b1) (a1, a2) equals (b1, b2) if a1*b2 = a2*b1 Reals? My examples of definitions that aren't solid: ~ Anything/any point you can plot on the number line ~ Dedekind (spelling?) cut "I want to close my number set under limits." By limit I mean the n-ε-definition (a1, a2, a3, a4, ...) ( 1, 0, 1, 0, ...) (1/2, 1/2, 1/2, 1/2, ...) (1/2, 3/4, 7/8, 15/16, ...) Start with the range (1,2) Bisect the range - x - this is the next element of the series Square x if (x > 2) update the range to (lower,x) else update the range to (x,upper) limit (3/2, 5/4, 11/8, 21/16, ...) = y Cauchy sequence - a sequence given any ε there is an n such that for any m,r >= n |am - ar| < ε "Close under limits." means "We want a set of numbers where every Cauchy sequence converges to a number in the set." (a1, a2, a3, a4, ...) a + b = (a1, a2, a3, a4, ...) + (b1, b2, b3, b4, ...) = (a1 + b1, a2 + b2, a3 + b3, ...)