Concept
Riemann sphere
Related concepts (51)
Complex projective space
In mathematics, complex projective space is the projective space with respect to the field of complex numbers. By analogy, whereas the points of a real projective space label the lines through the origin of a real Euclidean space, the points of a complex projective space label the complex lines through the origin of a complex Euclidean space (see below for an intuitive account). Formally, a complex projective space is the space of complex lines through the origin of an (n+1)-dimensional complex vector space.
Indeterminate form
In calculus and other branches of mathematical analysis, when the limit of the sum, difference, product, quotient or power of two functions is taken, it may often be possible to simply add, subtract, multiply, divide or exponentiate the corresponding limits of these two functions respectively. However, there are occasions where it is unclear what the sum, difference, product or power of these two limits ought to be. For example, it is unclear what the following expressions ought to evaluate to: These seven expressions are known as indeterminate forms.
Complex plane
In mathematics, the complex plane is the plane formed by the complex numbers, with a Cartesian coordinate system such that the x-axis, called the real axis, is formed by the real numbers, and the y-axis, called the imaginary axis, is formed by the imaginary numbers. The complex plane allows a geometric interpretation of complex numbers. Under addition, they add like vectors.
Division by zero
In mathematics, division by zero is division where the divisor (denominator) is zero. Such a division can be formally expressed as , where a is the dividend (numerator). In ordinary arithmetic, the expression has no meaning, as there is no number that, when multiplied by 0, gives a (assuming ); thus, division by zero is undefined (a type of singularity). Since any number multiplied by zero is zero, the expression is also undefined; when it is the form of a limit, it is an indeterminate form.
Projection (mathematics)
In mathematics, a projection is an idempotent mapping of a set (or other mathematical structure) into a subset (or sub-structure). In this case, idempotent means that projecting twice is the same as projecting once. The restriction to a subspace of a projection is also called a projection, even if the idempotence property is lost. An everyday example of a projection is the casting of shadows onto a plane (sheet of paper): the projection of a point is its shadow on the sheet of paper, and the projection (shadow) of a point on the sheet of paper is that point itself (idempotency).
Projective line over a ring
In mathematics, the projective line over a ring is an extension of the concept of projective line over a field. Given a ring A with 1, the projective line P(A) over A consists of points identified by projective coordinates. Let U be the group of units of A; pairs (a, b) and (c, d) from A × A are related when there is a u in U such that ua = c and ub = d. This relation is an equivalence relation. A typical equivalence class is written U[a, b]. P(A) = { U[a, b] : aA + bA = A }, that is, U[a, b] is in the projective line if the ideal generated by a and b is all of A.
Rational function
In mathematics, a rational function is any function that can be defined by a rational fraction, which is an algebraic fraction such that both the numerator and the denominator are polynomials. The coefficients of the polynomials need not be rational numbers; they may be taken in any field K. In this case, one speaks of a rational function and a rational fraction over K. The values of the variables may be taken in any field L containing K. Then the domain of the function is the set of the values of the variables for which the denominator is not zero, and the codomain is L.
Hyperelliptic curve
In algebraic geometry, a hyperelliptic curve is an algebraic curve of genus g > 1, given by an equation of the form where f(x) is a polynomial of degree n = 2g + 1 > 4 or n = 2g + 2 > 4 with n distinct roots, and h(x) is a polynomial of degree < g + 2 (if the characteristic of the ground field is not 2, one can take h(x) = 0). A hyperelliptic function is an element of the function field of such a curve, or of the Jacobian variety on the curve; these two concepts are identical for elliptic functions, but different for hyperelliptic functions.
Plane (mathematics)
In mathematics, a plane is a two-dimensional space or flat surface that extends indefinitely. A plane is the two-dimensional analogue of a point (zero dimensions), a line (one dimension) and three-dimensional space. When working exclusively in two-dimensional Euclidean space, the definite article is used, so the Euclidean plane refers to the whole space. Many fundamental tasks in mathematics, geometry, trigonometry, graph theory, and graphing are performed in a two-dimensional or planar space.
Line at infinity
In geometry and topology, the line at infinity is a projective line that is added to the real (affine) plane in order to give closure to, and remove the exceptional cases from, the incidence properties of the resulting projective plane. The line at infinity is also called the ideal line. In projective geometry, any pair of lines always intersects at some point, but parallel lines do not intersect in the real plane. The line at infinity is added to the real plane.