Infinity (symbol: ∞) refers to something without any limit, and is a concept relevant in a number of fields, predominantly mathematics and physics. The English word infinity derives from Latin infinitas, which can be translated as "unboundedness", itself derived from the Greek word apeiros, meaning "endless".
In mathematics, "infinity" is often treated as if it were a number (i.e., it counts or measures things: "an infinite number of terms") but it is not the same sort of number as the real numbers. In number systems incorporating infinitesimals, the reciprocal of an infinitesimal is an infinite number, i.e., a number greater than any real number. Georg Cantor formalized many ideas related to infinity and infinite sets during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In the theory he developed, there are infinite sets of different sizes (called cardinalities). For example, the set of integers is countably infinite, while the set of real numbers is uncountably infinite.
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Other articles related to "infinity":
... H-infinity loop-shaping is a design methodology in modern control theory ... classical control methods, such as Bode's sensitivity integral, with H-infinity optimization techniques to achieve controllers whose stability and performance properties hold good in spite of bounded ... H-infinity loop-shaping can be applied to multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems ...
... Perspective artwork utilizes the concept of imaginary vanishing points, or points at infinity, located at an infinite distance from the observer ... is specifically known for employing the concept of infinity in his work in this and other ways ... Cognitive scientist George Lakoff considers the concept of infinity in mathematics and the sciences as a metaphor ...
... Geometrically, this corresponds to intersecting the line at infinity in either 2 distinct points (corresponding to two asymptotes) or in 1 double point (corresponding to the axis of a parabola), and thus the ... Geometrically, the line at infinity is no longer special (distinguished), so while some conics intersect the line at infinity differently, this can be changed by a projective transformation ...
... George Pérez, first appeared in The Infinity Gauntlet #3 in October 1991 ... Within the context of the stories, Terraxia was created by Thanos using the Infinity Gems ... She is uncreated and forgotten in The Infinity Gauntlet #6 ...
... As a consequence, logb(x) diverges to infinity (gets bigger than any given number) if x grows to infinity, provided that b is greater than one ... For b < 1, logb(x) tends to minus infinity instead ... When x approaches zero, logb(x) goes to minus infinity for b > 1 (plus infinity for b < 1, respectively) ...
Famous quotes containing the word infinity:
“We must not suppose that, because a man is a rational animal, he will, therefore, always act rationally; or, because he has such or such a predominant passion, that he will act invariably and consequentially in pursuit of it. No, we are complicated machines; and though we have one main spring that gives motion to the whole, we have an infinity of little wheels, which, in their turns, retard, precipitate, and sometime stop that motion.”
—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)
“New York, you are an Egypt! But an Egypt turned inside out. For she erected pyramids of slavery to death, and you erect pyramids of democracy with the vertical organ-pipes of your skyscrapers all meeting at the point of infinity of liberty!”
—Salvador Dali (1904–1989)
“As we begin to comprehend that the earth itself is a kind of manned spaceship hurtling through the infinity of space—it will seem increasingly absurd that we have not better organized the life of the human family.”
—Hubert H. Humphrey (1911–1978)