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A random number is a number chosen as if by chance from some specified distribution such that selection of a large set of these numbers reproduces the underlying ...

Sylvester's four-point problem asks for the probability q(R) that four points chosen at random in a planar region R have a convex hull which is a quadrilateral (Sylvester ...

The (complete) gamma function Gamma(n) is defined to be an extension of the factorial to complex and real number arguments. It is related to the factorial by Gamma(n)=(n-1)!, ...

The golden ratio, also known as the divine proportion, golden mean, or golden section, is a number often encountered when taking the ratios of distances in simple geometric ...

An ellipse is a curve that is the locus of all points in the plane the sum of whose distances r_1 and r_2 from two fixed points F_1 and F_2 (the foci) separated by a distance ...

Hilbert's problems are a set of (originally) unsolved problems in mathematics proposed by Hilbert. Of the 23 total appearing in the printed address, ten were actually ...

Legendre showed that there is no rational algebraic function which always gives primes. In 1752, Goldbach showed that no polynomial with integer coefficients can give a prime ...

An arithmetic progression of primes is a set of primes of the form p_1+kd for fixed p_1 and d and consecutive k, i.e., {p_1,p_1+d,p_1+2d,...}. For example, 199, 409, 619, ...

Buffon's needle problem asks to find the probability that a needle of length l will land on a line, given a floor with equally spaced parallel lines a distance d apart. The ...

A Fourier series is an expansion of a periodic function f(x) in terms of an infinite sum of sines and cosines. Fourier series make use of the orthogonality relationships of ...