Foundation of Mathematics

Foundation of Mathematics is the study of the system of elementary objects, which is considered a
classification to be accurate and evident. By that, two objects are equal or different, related or not; an
operation gives an exact result. Mathematics as a whole means it involves science not just numbers to
formulate and seek out patterns and other circumstances. Which the word Mathematics comes from
the Greek translation which means “learning” or “studying”. Without mathematics, there would be
no applied or theoretical science and atmospheric sciences it means nor architecture, physics,
chemistry, biology, etc.

Theories

What is a Mathematical Theory?

• A mathematical theory refers to a mathematical model of a branch of mathematics that is based

on a set of axioms.
• A mathematical theory can also simultaneously be a body of knowledge (eg. Based on known
axioms and definition), and so this sense can refer to an area of mathematical research within
the established framework.
• A theory was built overtime, at first, it was intertwined, later clarified and became coherent.

In the building blocks of a mathematical theory, axioms and definitions are in the bottom layer. This
proves that the axioms and definitions are the foundation of a mathematical theory.I our daily life,
“theory” means a guess without supporting evidence. A theory is a hunch which supports a claim with
facts to show something to be true. Each theory is the study of a supposedly fixed system that is its
world of objects, called its model.

• Mathematical theory – is a various branch of systems. Which these mathematical works may
either an absolute or to be known as a theory.
• Non-mathematical theories – describe in general or qualitative terms those worldly systems or
characteristics (fields of observation) that defy precise self-sufficient definition.
• Pure Mathematical Theory – is the use of strict techniques (formal rules) created to assure
maintaining the perfect conformance of theories to their intended models may often prevent
only describing exact systems from the risk of being "false".

Axioms

What is an axiom?

• The word axiom comes from the Ancient Greek word ἀξίωμα (axíōma), meaning ‘that which is
thought worthy or fit’ or ‘that which commends itself as evident.
• Axioms are statements that mathematicians agree to treat as true or a statement that should be
taken to be true.
• Compared to conjecture or hypothesis, both of which mean apparently true but not self-evident
statements.
 • Axioms are the basis form of a mathematical theory from which we can build a theory by using
definitions, theorems, and proofs.

Definitions

• Is one of the foundations in creating a theory.

Type of Sets

There are many sets, but we will focus on the four main types of it. The first one is the union of Sets.
Union sets are the union of two sets that consists of all their elements. It is denoted by (⋃).

A. Union of Set

“A = {A, E, I} B = {O, U}”

Example: Set A = {A, E, I} Set B = {O, U}

The union of Set A and Set B will be: A ⋃ B = {A, E, I, O, U}

Example: Set A and Set B if A = {2, 3, 4, 6, 8} and B = {2, 3, 4, 5, 7}

The union of Set A and Set B will be: A ⋃ B = {2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8}

The second type of set is the intersection of sets; it is a set of all elements common to all the Given sets
and gives an intersection of sets. It is denoted by ⋂.

Example: Set A = {a, b, c, d, e, f, g} Set B = {a, e, i, o, u}

“A = {a, b, c, d, e, f, g} B = {a, e, i, o, u}”

The intersection of Set A and Set B will be: So, A ⋂ B = {a, e}

B. “Complement of a Set (‘)”

And the last type of set is the complement of a set; If a universal set (U) has a subset A, then the
complement of set A, which is represented as A’, is other than the elements of set A, which includes the
elements of the universal set but not the elements of set A.

If U = {A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J} and A = {B, C, D, E, F}

“U = {A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J} A = {B, C, D, E, F}”

A’ = {A, G, H, I, J}

The value of A’ if U = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8} and A = {2, 4, 6}: A’ = {1, 3, 5, 7, 8}

What is Category Theory?

Category theory is a general theory of mathematical structures and their relations that Samuel Eilenberg
and Saunders Mac Lane introduced in the middle of 20th century. A category is formed by two sorts of
objects, the objects of the category, and the Morphisms, which relate to two objects called the source
and the target of the morphism. Categories consist of two of the following; objects, morphisms,
compositions, and identity. We will focus on the important things; the first is objects. Objects are the
values or “things” that are in dependent of each other. For example, “a person”, “an address”, and “a
city” are three independent things.

The second thing is morphism; a morphism is a structure-preserving map from one mathematical
structure to another one of the same type. We can say that morphisms are relationships with directions.
In our previous example, we can say that:

The third term is compositions; how do we combine A → B → C? In category theory, there is a way to
combine them. We can combine morphism f and g into h, which can also be written as g ∘ f. This process
is called composition. Composition is the operation that takes morphisms f: a → B and g: c → d in a
category and produces a morphism g ∘ f: a → c, called the composite of f and g.

And the last term we need to understand category theory is identity; identities are morphisms of one
object to itself.

Recap: Category Theory

• Object
• Morphisms
• Compositions
• Identity

Classical Logic

Classical logic deals with statements that can be evaluated as true or false. Those statements are called
logical statements or simply propositions. Classical logic complies with The Law of Excluded Middle (or
LEM for short) which states that every proposition is either true or false. What are the examples of
propositions?
Here are some examples of propositions through natural language:

• “The earth is rotating on its own axis every 24 hours.”

- This sentence is true because it is a universal truth. This is a logical statement which is
true.
• “Valenzuela City is the summer capital of the Philippines.”
- This statement is also a logical statement, but a false one. We all know that Baguio City
is the summer capital of our country, not Valenzuela.
• “Cathy is very beautiful.”
- This sentence can’t be evaluated as true or false. Some people may find her pretty, but
some may think otherwise. The statement given is ambiguous and not an example of a
proposition.

Now that we understand the concept of propositions, let’s move on to other concepts under classical
logic. We can combine logical sentences together to form other statements. We can call these
combined propositions as formulas. We can combine logical propositions using words like and, or, if…
then, etc. We can also use symbols for connectives to combine propositions and translate to its symbolic
logic form. We have 5 connectives namely: conjunction, disjunction, implication, equivalence [binary
connectives], and negation [unary connectives].

In conjunction, we use the word “and” to combine propositions in natural language. Instead the word
“and,” we can also use the symbol of conjunction which is written on the slide “∧.” (A ∧ B) is called the
conjunction of formula and A, B are the factors of the conjunction.

In disjunction, we use the word “or” to combine propositions in natural language. Instead the word
“or,” we can also use the symbol of disjunction which is “∨.” (A ∨ B) is called the disjunction of formula
and A, B are the factors of the disjunction.

In implication, we use the statement “if A, then B” to combine propositions in natural language. Instead
of this phrase, we can also use the symbol of implication which is “→” (A → B) is called the implication
of formula. In this connective, A is called the antecedent and B is called the consequent. Implication
means that the logical value of B can be inferred from A.

In equivalence, we use the statement “if and only if” to combine propositions in natural language.
Instead of this phrase, we can also use the symbol of equivalence which is “↔” (A ↔ B). This
connective is interpreted as a true formula if both factors have the same logical value which is true or
false.
Intuitionistic Logic

Now that we have already learned about classical logics, let’s discover intuitionistic logic. What is the
difference between the two? In classical logic, we focused on whether the proposition is true or false.
Nothing more, nothing less. However, in intuitionistic logic, we would be focusing on the proofs rather
than the truth. To determine whether a statement is true or false, we need to prove it. Intuitionistic
logic focuses on whether the propositions are provable, unprovable or neither if the existence of a proof
is ambiguous.

If classical logic has classical connectives, here in intuitionistic logic, we have inference rules. It is similar
to the classical connectives, but instead, we will be focusing on the existence of the proof.

• Conjunction – A ∧ B has a proof if and only if both A and B have proofs.

• Disjunction – A ∨ B has a proof if and only if A has a proof or B has a proof.
• Implication – A → B has a proof if and only if the existence of A’s proof will imply that B has a
proof.
• Truth – In this inference rule, it is already true from the start and it doesn’t require a proof.
• Falsehood – In this inference rule, we won’t be able to prove it.

Partially Ordered Sets

We already learned about classical logic and intuitionistic logic. Let’s learn about a new topic, which is
partially ordered sets. However, before we discuss partially ordered sets, let’s first talk about relations.
It is the connection of two different sets of information. It is a set of ordered pairs.

Hasse Diagram is a way to used to illustrate a Partially Ordered Set (poset) in a much cleaner way. In
this diagram, it doesn’t have loops for the reflexive property since we already know that the objects are
related to themselves. We won’t also include the arrows for transitive property since we already know
that it’s going to be transitive. We won’t also include the direction arrows. In this way, it is much cleaner
than the previous diagram. Here’s the equivalent Hasse Diagram for the example given earlier.

Type Theory

An another Foundation of Mathematics. It all started in 1874 where for the first time Georg Cantor
formalized something, the naive set theory but soon after it turned out that actually it was not an
upright theory, since in 1901 the english philosopher and mathematician Bertrand Russell discovered a
problem, a paradox at the heart of mathematics and all of science. The paradox specifically concerns a
foundational branch of mathematics called set theory, and in an attempt to solve this with any other
mathematician Russell put his mind to actually finding something which would work.
One way to look at type theory is by Curry Howard Correspondence and this is when you think of type as
propositions. It holds if our type is inhabited. To take a very simple example: Inhabited A is a type
depends on the type A. It’s something that one can do, if one wants to in type theory. So I have this type
inhabited A and that’s a proposition, and this is something similar to A equals B thing where if I can
make a term of inhabited A that means that this proposition is true. One can define the type function
between types, and you will always have that if we go from the type function. It will always be inherited
by some kind of identity function.

Different Type Theories are as follows:

Natural Number Type

- Natural numbers type is the type of natural number, so if you were reading something
which beforehand specifies when it exists

Dependent Function Type

- Dependent function type is specified by rules saying when we can introduce it as a type,
how to construct terms of that type, how to use or “eliminate” terms of that type, and
how to compute when we combine the constructors with the eliminators. Dependent
types is a type whose definition depends on a value. It is an overlapping feature of type
theory.

Dependent Sum Type

- Dependent sum type is specified by rules saying when we can introduce it as a type,
how to construct terms of that type, how to use or “eliminate” terms of that type, and
how to compute when we combine the constructors with the eliminators

Identity Type

- Identity type where one understands every piece of data or every “term” as being of a
given type which specifies its operational behaviour. Identity types are the types of
those terms which serve as “witnesses” or “certificates” of identification of terms of
type X.

Geometry

The word geometry came from two greek words: Geo which means Earth and Metrein which means to
measure. Wikipedia defines this as one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with
properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. Euclid “The Father
of Geometry. Information about his life is scarce, but historian mathematicians speculated that he lived
around 300 BC in a town named Tyre or Megara and died in 265 BC at Alexandria, Egypt. In his textbook
called Elements he talked about how he uses his method to bring proofs on mathematical theories aside
from that, this has also explained his approach to Mathematics where he uses a small set of axioms or
postulates to deduce other theorems.

Postulates are statements that are assumed to be true without proof. Postulates serve two purposes –
to explain undefined terms, and to serve as a starting point for proving other statements. In the Fourth
Postulate it is that “All right angles are equal,”

In almost 2,000 years, the term Euclidian is not being used as much since there are no other forms of
geometry have been discovered. In present times, however, numerous Non-Euclidian geometries have
surfaced. Compared to Euclid’s method, Non-Euclidian geometry functions either by replacing the
parallel postulates or by relaxing a metric requirement. The two traditional methods for this one are
called hyperbolic geometry and elliptic geometry. Hyperbolic Geometry or also known as Saddle
geometry or Lobachevskian geometry describes the properties of surfaces with negative curvature,
which are saddle-shaped. These surfaces appear in the theory of relativity because of the curvature of
space-time caused by mass. While Elliptic geometry is an example of a geometry in which Euclid's
parallel postulate does not hold. Instead, as in spherical geometry, there are no parallel lines since any
two lines must intersect.

Applied Mathematics

Applied mathematics originated as a discipline that focused on specific applications or solved problems
using existing mathematical theory. It is now considered an all-encompassing term for the fields of
analytics and modeling because it includes both theoretical and practical aspects of mathematics. We
view applied math as the application of mathematics to real-world problems with the dual goal of
explaining observed phenomena and predicting new, as yet unobserved, phenomena. Therefore, the
emphasis is on both the mathematics, for example, the development of new methods to meet the
challenges of new problems, and the real world.

Mathematical Economics.

- Mathematical economics is a method of economics that utilizes math principles and

tools to create economic theories and to investigate economic quandaries. Mathematics
permits economists to construct precisely defined models from which exact conclusions
can be derived with mathematical logic, which can then be tested using statistical data
and used to make quantifiable predictions about future economic activity.

Probability
 - It is a branch of mathematics that deals with the occurrence of a random event. The
value is expressed from zero to one. Probability has been introduced in Maths to predict
how likely events are to happen. The meaning of probability is basically the extent to
which something is likely to happen. The probability formula is defined as the possibility
of an event to happen is equal to the ratio of the number of favourable outcomes and
the total number of outcomes. The formula of probability can be shown as this : P(E) =
n(A) / n(S)

Cryptography

- Cryptography is an art of developing techniques of writing messages in a secret way and

have been used to ensure the security in communication. In the modern world,
cryptography is a very important tool for protecting information.

The Philosophical Views

The philosophy of mathematics is the branch of philosophy that studies the assumptions, foundations,
and implications of mathematics. It aims to understand the nature and methods of mathematics, and
find out the place of mathematics in people’s lives. The “Big Four” philosophical views on the nature of
mathematics that emerged during this period were logicism, intuitionism, formalism, and platonism.

• Logicism began with the work of the German philosopher Gottlob Frege in the late nineteenth
century, and it was taken up by Bertrand Russell in the early twentieth century, and culminated
with the massive three-volume work, the first is the Begriffsschrift (Concept Script) (1976),
which was first published in 1879 and is a technical work that introduces the reader to a formal
logical system.
• Intuitionism was introduced by a dutch mathematician also known as Brouwer in (1881–1966).
According to intuitionism, mathematics is a mental construct or a creation of mind.
• Fomalism believed that mathematical claims are meaningless strings of symbols that are
manipulated according to explicitly stated formal rules.
• Platonism is the metaphysical belief that abstract mathematical elements exist independently of
us and our language, thoughts, and practices. Additionally numbers and sets exist independently
of us, just as electrons and planets do.