1837 in Science - Mathematics

Mathematics

  • Johann Peter Gustav Lejeune Dirichlet publishes Dirichlet's theorem on arithmetic progressions, using mathematical analysis concepts to tackle an algebraic problem and thus creating the branch of analytic number theory. In proving the theorem, he introduces the Dirichlet characters and L-functions. He also notes the difference between the absolute and conditional convergence of series and its impact in what will later be called the Riemann series theorem.
  • Bernard Bolzano publishes Wissenschaftslehre.
  • William Rowan Hamilton treats complex numbers as ordered pairs of real numbers.
  • Simeon Poisson's lectures on probability and decision theory are published.
  • Pierre Wantzel proves that several ancient geometric problems (including doubling the cube and trisecting the angle) are impossible to solve using only compass and straightedge.

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