1974The Mathematical GazetteRequires access

A new construction of the real numbers

Peter Shiu

Open publisher page 3 citations

Abstract

There are two well known constructions of the real numbers from the rationals—namely the Dedekind cuts method in which a real number is defined as a class of rationals, and the Cantor–Cauchy completion method in which a real number is defined as an equivalence class of Cauchy sequences of rational numbers. In this article we give a new construction of the reals from the rationals in which a real number is defined as an equivalence class of sets of natural numbers.

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What this paper is about

There are two well known constructions of the real numbers from the rationals—namely the Dedekind cuts method in which a real number is defined as a class of rationals, and the Cantor–Cauchy completion method in which a real number is defined as an equivalence class of Cauchy sequences of rational numbers. In this article we give a new construction of the reals from the rationals in which a real number is defined as an equivalence class of sets of natural numbers.

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Available abstract

There are two well known constructions of the real numbers from the rationals—namely the Dedekind cuts method in which a real number is defined as a class of rationals, and the Cantor–Cauchy completion method in which a real number is defined as an equivalence class of Cauchy sequences of rational numbers. In this article we give a new construction of the reals from the rationals in which a real number is defined as an equivalence class of sets of natural numbers.

Key concepts: Rational number, Real number, Mathematics, Dedekind cut, Natural number, Class (philosophy), Equivalence (formal languages), Cauchy distribution

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