List of mathematics problems named after places
Encyclopedia
This list contains mathematics problems named after geographic locations.
- Aarhus integral
- Anarboricity, a number assigned to finite graphsGraph (mathematics)In mathematics, a graph is an abstract representation of a set of objects where some pairs of the objects are connected by links. The interconnected objects are represented by mathematical abstractions called vertices, and the links that connect some pairs of vertices are called edges...
, defined as the size of the largest partition of the graph into edge-disjoint subgraphs, each containing at least one cycle (graph theory)Cycle (graph theory)In graph theory, the term cycle may refer to a closed path. If repeated vertices are allowed, it is more often called a closed walk. If the path is a simple path, with no repeated vertices or edges other than the starting and ending vertices, it may also be called a simple cycle, circuit, circle,...
. It is named in honor of the city of Ann Arbor by Frank HararyFrank HararyFrank Harary was a prolific American mathematician, who specialized in graph theory. He was widely recognized as one of the "fathers" of modern graph theory....
. - Arctic circle theoremArctic circle theoremIn mathematics, the arctic circle theorem of states that random domino tilings of a large Aztec diamond tend to be frozen outside a certain "arctic circle"....
describing the boundary of domino tilingDomino tilingA domino tiling of a region in the Euclidean plane is a tessellation of the region by dominos, shapes formed by the union of two unit squares meeting edge-to-edge...
s - Aztec diamondAztec diamondIn combinatorial mathematics, an Aztec diamond of order n consists of all squares of a square lattice whose centers satisfy |x| + |y| ≤ n...
problem - Babylonian square root method, an iterative numerical method for improving an approximation to the square root of a positive number. It is so called because its earliest known use was in ancient BabyloniaBabyloniaBabylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia , with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as a major power when Hammurabi Babylonia was an ancient cultural region in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq), with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged as...
. - Byzantine generals problem
- Cairo tesselation
- Canadian traveler problem
- Chinese postman problem
- Chinese remainder theoremChinese remainder theoremThe Chinese remainder theorem is a result about congruences in number theory and its generalizations in abstract algebra.In its most basic form it concerned with determining n, given the remainders generated by division of n by several numbers...
, a theorem in number theoryNumber theoryNumber theory is a branch of pure mathematics devoted primarily to the study of the integers. Number theorists study prime numbers as well...
concerning solutions of systems of linear Diophantine equationDiophantine equationIn mathematics, a Diophantine equation is an indeterminate polynomial equation that allows the variables to be integers only. Diophantine problems have fewer equations than unknown variables and involve finding integers that work correctly for all equations...
s, in the present day usually stated in the language of modular arithmeticModular arithmeticIn mathematics, modular arithmetic is a system of arithmetic for integers, where numbers "wrap around" after they reach a certain value—the modulus....
. It is so called because it was discovered in ChinaChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
in the 3rd century AD. - Chinese restaurant process, a stochastic processStochastic processIn probability theory, a stochastic process , or sometimes random process, is the counterpart to a deterministic process...
with applications in population geneticsPopulation geneticsPopulation genetics is the study of allele frequency distribution and change under the influence of the four main evolutionary processes: natural selection, genetic drift, mutation and gene flow. It also takes into account the factors of recombination, population subdivision and population...
. It is so called because of an analogy to the custom of table-sharing in Chinese restaurantChinese restaurantA Chinese restaurant is a food establishment serving Chinese cuisine, the term can also refer to:Overseas Chinese cuisine* Overseas Chinese restaurant* American Chinese cuisine* Canadian Chinese cuisineOther...
s. - Chinese square root method
- Conway–Paterson–Moscow theorem
- Delian problem
- Dubrovnik polynomial
- Egyptian fraction, a way of representing a positive rational numberRational numberIn mathematics, a rational number is any number that can be expressed as the quotient or fraction a/b of two integers, with the denominator b not equal to zero. Since b may be equal to 1, every integer is a rational number...
as a sum of distinct (i.e. no two the same) reciprocals of positive integers. These were a part of a numeral systemNumeral systemA numeral system is a writing system for expressing numbers, that is a mathematical notation for representing numbers of a given set, using graphemes or symbols in a consistent manner....
used in ancient Egypt. - Egyptian multiplication
- Erlangen programErlangen programAn influential research program and manifesto was published in 1872 by Felix Klein, under the title Vergleichende Betrachtungen über neuere geometrische Forschungen...
, the program for future research in mathematics proposed by Felix KleinFelix KleinChristian Felix Klein was a German mathematician, known for his work in group theory, function theory, non-Euclidean geometry, and on the connections between geometry and group theory...
in 1872 while he was at the University of Erlangen in Germany. - French railroad metric
- Hamilton–Waterloo problem
- Hawaiian earringHawaiian earringIn mathematics, the Hawaiian earring H is the topological space defined by the union of circles in the Euclidean plane R2 with center and radius 1/n for n = 1, 2, 3, ......
, a topological spaceTopological spaceTopological spaces are mathematical structures that allow the formal definition of concepts such as convergence, connectedness, and continuity. They appear in virtually every branch of modern mathematics and are a central unifying notion...
homeomorphic to the one-point compactification of the union of a countably infinite family of open intervals. It is so called because of the appearance of a picture of the space, showing an infinite sequence of circles mutually tangent at a common point. - Hungarian algorithmHungarian algorithmThe Hungarian method is a combinatorial optimization algorithm which solves the assignment problem in polynomial time and which anticipated later primal-dual methods...
- Indian numeralsIndian numeralsMost of the positional base 10 numeral systems in the world have originated from India, where the concept of positional numeration was first developed...
- Irish logarithm
- Italian algebraic algebraic geometry
- Italian squares which include Latin squareLatin squareIn combinatorics and in experimental design, a Latin square is an n × n array filled with n different symbols, each occurring exactly once in each row and exactly once in each column...
s, Tuscan squares, Roman squares, Florentine squares and Vatican squares - Japanese ring
- Japanese theorem for cyclic polygons, a geometric theorem found in a Shinto shrine during Japan's Edo periodEdo periodThe , or , is a division of Japanese history which was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family, running from 1603 to 1868. The political entity of this period was the Tokugawa shogunate....
- Las Vegas algorithmLas Vegas algorithmIn computing, a Las Vegas algorithm is a randomized algorithm that always gives correct results; that is, it always produces the correct result or it informs about the failure. In other words, a Las Vegas algorithm does not gamble with the verity of the result; it gambles only with the resources...
- Ljubljana graphLjubljana graphIn the mathematical field of graph theory, the Ljubljana graph is an undirected bipartite graph with 112 vertices and 168 edges.It is a cubic graph with diameter 8, radius 7, chromatic number 2 and chromatic index 3. Its girth is 10 and there are exactly 168 cycles of length 10 in it...
- Manhattan distance
- Mexican hat wavelet
- Monte Carlo methodMonte Carlo methodMonte Carlo methods are a class of computational algorithms that rely on repeated random sampling to compute their results. Monte Carlo methods are often used in computer simulations of physical and mathematical systems...
, any of many methods of simulation involving pseudo-randomness. The name alludes to the randomness of gambling casinos for which Monte CarloMonte CarloMonte Carlo is an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco....
is famous. - Montréal functor
- Nauru graphNauru graphIn the mathematical field of graph theory, the Nauru graph is a symmetric bipartite cubic graph with 24 vertices and 36 edges. It was named by David Eppstein after the twelve-pointed star in the flag of Nauru....
- Nottingham groupNottingham groupIn the mathematical field of group theory, the Nottingham group is the group J or N consisting of formal power series t + a2t2+......
- Oberwolfach problem
- Paris metric
- Paxos algorithmPaxos algorithmPaxos is a family of protocols for solving consensus in a network of unreliable processors.Consensus is the process of agreeing on one result among a group of participants...
- Polish notationPolish notationPolish notation, also known as prefix notation, is a form of notation for logic, arithmetic, and algebra. Its distinguishing feature is that it places operators to the left of their operands. If the arity of the operators is fixed, the result is a syntax lacking parentheses or other brackets that...
- Polish spacePolish spaceIn the mathematical discipline of general topology, a Polish space is a separable completely metrizable topological space; that is, a space homeomorphic to a complete metric space that has a countable dense subset. Polish spaces are so named because they were first extensively studied by Polish...
(in topologyTopologyTopology is a major area of mathematics concerned with properties that are preserved under continuous deformations of objects, such as deformations that involve stretching, but no tearing or gluing...
) - Riga P-point
- Roman surfaceRoman surfaceThe Roman surface is a self-intersecting mapping of the real projective plane into three-dimensional space, with an unusually high degree of symmetry...
, a self-intersecting mapping of the real projective plane into three-dimensional space, with an unusually high degree of symmetry. It is so called because Jakob SteinerJakob SteinerJakob Steiner was a Swiss mathematician who worked primarily in geometry.-Personal and professional life:...
was in RomeRomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
when he thought of it. - Russian constructivism
- Russian peasant multiplication
- Scottish BookScottish BookThe Scottish Book was a thick notebook used by mathematicians of the Lwow School of Mathematics for jotting down problems meant to be solved. The notebook was named after the "Scottish Café" where it was kept....
- Seven bridges of KönigsbergSeven Bridges of KönigsbergThe Seven Bridges of Königsberg is a historically notable problem in mathematics. Its negative resolution by Leonhard Euler in 1735 laid the foundations of graph theory and prefigured the idea of topology....
, a famous problem in what would become graph theoryGraph theoryIn mathematics and computer science, graph theory is the study of graphs, mathematical structures used to model pairwise relations between objects from a certain collection. A "graph" in this context refers to a collection of vertices or 'nodes' and a collection of edges that connect pairs of...
, originally phrased as the problem of finding a way to walk across all of KönigsbergKönigsbergKönigsberg was the capital of East Prussia from the Late Middle Ages until 1945 as well as the northernmost and easternmost German city with 286,666 inhabitants . Due to the multicultural society in and around the city, there are several local names for it...
's seven bridges and return to one's starting point without walking across any bridge more than once. - Swiss cheese (one type in complex analysisComplex analysisComplex analysis, traditionally known as the theory of functions of a complex variable, is the branch of mathematical analysis that investigates functions of complex numbers. It is useful in many branches of mathematics, including number theory and applied mathematics; as well as in physics,...
, another in cosmologyCosmologyCosmology is the discipline that deals with the nature of the Universe as a whole. Cosmologists seek to understand the origin, evolution, structure, and ultimate fate of the Universe at large, as well as the natural laws that keep it in order...
) - Syracuse problem
- Toronto spaceToronto spaceIn mathematics, in the realm of topology, a Toronto space is a topological space that is homeomorphic to every proper subspace of the same cardinality....
- Tower of HanoiTower of HanoiThe Tower of Hanoi or Towers of Hanoi, also called the Tower of Brahma or Towers of Brahma, is a mathematical game or puzzle. It consists of three rods, and a number of disks of different sizes which can slide onto any rod...
- Tropical geometryTropical geometryTropical geometry is a relatively new area in mathematics, which might loosely be described as a piece-wise linear or skeletonized version of algebraic geometry. Its leading ideas had appeared in different guises in previous works of George M...
, algebraic geometryAlgebraic geometryAlgebraic geometry is a branch of mathematics which combines techniques of abstract algebra, especially commutative algebra, with the language and the problems of geometry. It occupies a central place in modern mathematics and has multiple conceptual connections with such diverse fields as complex...
with addition in place of multiplication and the min operator in place of addition. It is so called because it was developed by BrazilBrazilBrazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
ian mathematicians. - Warsaw circle
- Woods Hole formula, a fixed-point theoremFixed-point theoremIn mathematics, a fixed-point theorem is a result saying that a function F will have at least one fixed point , under some conditions on F that can be stated in general terms...
discussed at a meeting in 1964 in Woods Hole, MassachusettsWoods Hole, MassachusettsWoods Hole is a census-designated place in the town of Falmouth in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, United States. It lies at the extreme southwest corner of Cape Cod, near Martha's Vineyard and the Elizabeth Islands...
.