Numbers, Numerosities and Non-Standard Analysis

Course

Lecturer:
Vieri Benci (University of Pisa)

Board Contact:
Roberta Musina

SSD: MAT/01 – MAT/05

CFU: 2 CFU attendance + 2 CFU assignment

Period: Second Semester

Lessons / Hours: 4 Lectures 8 Hours

Program:

In this course the notions of Non-Standard Analysis are introduced starting from the notion of number and enumeration systems. This approach is certainly not the most direct, but it provides a reflection on the notion of number and more generally on the foundations of mathematics.

Lesson 1:

  • Enumeration systems
  • Real numbers, cardinals, ordinals and numerosities
  • Construction of a theory of numerosity

Lesson 2:

  • Numerosity and ordinal numbers
  • The non-standard universe
  • Numerosity and hypernatural numbers

Lesson 3:

  • The continuum problem
  • The empirical line, the rational line, the real line and the Euclidean line
  • Hyperreal fields

Lesson 4:

  • First applications
  • The generalization of the concept of function
  • Concluding considerations