Questions tagged [nonstandard-analysis]

Non-standard ordered fields are fields which have infinitesimals, that is, positive numbers which are smaller than any positive *real* number. Non-standard analysis is analysis done over such fields (e.g. hyperreal fields). Please specify the exact framework for non-standard analysis you are using in your question (e.g., what definition of "hyperreal number" you are using).

A non-zero element $\varepsilon$ of an ordered field is infinitesimal if $|\varepsilon| < \frac{1}{n}$ for all $n \in \mathbb{N}$. Nonstandard analysis is analysis done in fields with infinitesimals.

There are many ordered fields which contain infinitesimals, but the most common is the hyperreal field. Denoted by ${}^*\mathbb{R}$, the hyperreal field has a subfield isomorphic to $\mathbb{R}$ and is therefore the perfect setting for formalising the arguments of Leibniz and Newton (without the need for limits). This came to fruition in the 1960's thanks to the work of Abraham Robinson.

See also .

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Why adjoining non-Archimedean element doesn't work as calculus foundation?

Consider the smallest ordered field that contains R and does not satisfy the Archimedean property. I assume this is a much simpler construction than ultrafilters and other big caliber artillery used in non-standard analysis. Why does this approach…
Tegiri Nenashi
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What does limit actually mean?

I have been in a deep confusion for about a month over the topic of limits! According to our book, the limit at $a$ is the value being approached by a function $f(x)$ as $x$ approaches $a$. I have a doubt that in real number line we can never ever…
austin
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Is there a universal property for the ultraproduct?

Given an ultrafilter U on a set I and a collection of ser X_i ($I \in I$) one defines the ultraproduct as the quotient of $\prod X_i $ by the identification $x_i=y_i :\leftrightarrow \{i:x_i=y_i\} \in U$. Is there a possibilityto give this…
Dominik
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A layman's motivation for non-standard analysis and generalised limits

Disclaimer: My apologies for making such a long question. The question is possibly also rather specific, but I hope that (some parts of) it might be useful in general. Background: I have recently learnt some non-standard analysis and…
Jakub Konieczny
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Basic Geometric intuition, context is undergraduate mathematics

At some point in your life you were explained how to understand the dimensions of a line, a point, a plane, and a n-dimensional object. For me the first instance that comes to memory was in 7th grade in a inner city USA school district. Getting to…
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Products of Infinitesimals

In my physics class my professor was abusing the derivative, as per so many physics classes I've been in. This time, he took the quantity $(x+dx)(y+dy)$ and argued that the $dxdy$ term should disappear, because it's so much smaller than the rest,…
user82004
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The nature of infinities

I have been thinking about the nature of infinity lately. I have no experience with higher mathematics or theorems regarding infinity, so please forgive me if my ideas on this topic are extremely naive or superficial. Cantor's theorem proves that…
user45220
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There is no smallest infinitely large prime

I'm reading Kunen's Foundations of Mathematics and trying to solve Exercise II.16.19, which constructs an elementary extension of the reals as an ordered field, and asks the reader to prove various properties. I'm stuck on proving that there is no…
Nate Eldredge
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Construction of the Hyperreal numbers

Several times I have seen questions/answers here about using the correct definition of derivatives. There are also questions about whether or not $1/0$ is defined. Sometimes there is a discussion about the concept of infinitesimal and infinite…
Thomas
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Why continuum hypothesis implies the unique hyperreal system, ${}^{\ast}{\Bbb R}$?

On page 33, Robert Goldblatt, Lectures on Hyperreals(1998): Now it has been shown under certain set-theoretic assumption called continuum hypothesis the choice of $\mathcal F$ is irrelevant: All quotients of $\Bbb {R}^{\Bbb N}$ with respect to…
Metta World Peace
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Completing the space of series so there is a slowest converging series

It is well known that there is no slowest converging infinite series (see e.g. here). But there is also no largest rational number whose square <=2. Once we complete the rationals to the reals, such a number exists. Looking at the standard examples…
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Juggling three non-Archimedean fields

I'm comparing the field of hyperreals, the Levi-Civita field and the Dehn's field for the first time. I'm not very familiar with their properties, so I'm looking for ways to understand and distinguish them. I think Dehn's field is just a Pythagorean…
rschwieb
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Relationship between nonstandard analysis and nonstandard models of arithmetic

So I've been reading through some introductory texts on nonstandard analysis, basically through the ultrafilter construction of hyperreals and the transfer principle. It seems that much of the time, the notation is directly copied over from the…
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Practical applications of non-standard probability

Recently I read a paper by Benci et al. describing an alternative to Kolmogorov's construction of probability where the probability measure $P$ takes values in a non-Archimedian field and we have $P(A) = 1 \iff A = \Omega$. One consequence of this…
alfalfa
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What is the significance of the Increment Theorem in non-standard analysis?

A bit of background: I'm an engineer, not a mathematician, and I need to review and improve my calculus. In college, I never liked how they said $dy/dx$ was a single symbol, not a ratio; and then proceeded to write things like $dy = f(x) dx$ and…
Rob N
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