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00:14
@D.C.theIII Integral looks right. I have no idea what your last clause means.
When I was playing with it before I wasn't taking into account that I want the area in the cube $0 \leq x,y,z \leq 1$, so I was letting my upper limits go all the way to the top plane
@TedShifrin Hello Ted
00:41
Hi Jack
@D.C.theIII It helps to notice what vertices of the cube or on that tilted (not top) plane.
Riiiiiiight....I fell into the trap of just jumping to a conclusion of what the area should be like instead of being meticulous.
00:57
I don’t know to jump to conclusions in problems like this, seriously.
01:42
Suppose $f: [a,b] \times [c,d] \rightarrow \mathbb{R}$ is continuous and $\frac{\partial f}{\partial x}$ is continuous. Define $F(x) = \int_c^d f(x,y)dy$ prove. Show $F$ is continuous.

Proof attempt:

$\|F(x_1,y) = F(x_2,y\| = \|\int_c^df(x_1, y) dy - \int_c^d f(x_2,y)dy \| = \|\int_c^df(x_1 - x_2, y)dy\| < \int_c^d\|f(x_1 - x_2, y)\| dy$. By uniform continuity I know there exists a $\delta$ s.t $\|f(x_1-x_2,y)\| < \frac{\epsilon}{d-c}$, therefore $\int_c^d\|f(x_1 - x_2, y)\| dy < \int_c^d \frac{\epsilon}{d-c} = \frac{\epsilon}{d-c} \cdot (d-c) = \epsilon$, so $F(x)$ is continuous. I don
01:57
Regular absolute values. So $f$ is linear?
sigh...I don't know if $f$ is linear. The regular absolute value because this is only a function of $x$ correct?
$|\int_c^df(x_1, y) - f(x_2,y)dy | < \int_c^d |f(x_1, y) - f(x_2,y)|dy $ and I can still apply uniform continuity to this object.
Guess again.
$\le$, not $<$.
Yes, I was just typing it quick not to make you wait, but in my proper solution I would have it correct
What am I not taking account of there?
What is the meaning of $\|\cdot \|$ versus $|\cdot|$?
You also need to be more precise about what $\delta$ means.
Also the act of discovering what you missed is called learning.
02:09
$\|\cdot\| = $ norm while $| \cdot| = $ absolute value
As for $\delta$ it means that for all $x_1, x_2 \in [a,b]$ when $|x_1 - x_2|< \delta$ then $|f(x_1,y) - f(x_2,y)| < \epsilon$
02:53
@XanderHenderson thanks for math.stackexchange.com/a/3110351/755010
3
03:06
+1
πŸ‘πŸ‘
I am having a bit of trouble understanding why in (14) the RHS of the inequality is $e$. Is the $\lim_{n \rightarrow \infty} \text{sup} s_n = e$?
I can maybe intuitively see that at the very least $\lim_{n \rightarrow \infty} \text{sup} s_n \leq e$. But I am having trouble formalizing this result
is rudin, where e is defined to be lim s_n?
if a_n <= b_n holds for all n, then the same inequality holds if you slap limsup on both sides
yes it is
right so we get the relation $\lim_{n \rightarrow \infty} \text{ sup}t_n \leq \lim_{n \rightarrow \infty} \text{ sup}s_n$. But I am having trouble getting to $e$.
@SillyGoose This answer might be useful
is there some result that $\lim_{n \rightarrow \infty} a_n \leq \lim_{n \rightarrow \infty} \text{ sup}a_n$?
03:21
what does the limit on the right mean?
what is $\sup a_n$?
So to my understanding $\{a_n\}$ is a sequence of real numbers. Then, sup$a_n$ is the supremum of the subsequence $\{a_1, a_2, ..., a_n\}$.
Here is exactly what Rudin says, though it's not really explicit
So you really mean $\sup\limits_{k\le n}a_k$
I think so
I am having trouble understanding the notation but that seems reasonable
Usually we define $\limsup\limits_{n\to\infty}a_n=\lim\limits_{n\to\infty}\sup\limits_{k\ge n}a_k$
$\liminf\limits_{n\to\infty}a_n=\lim\limits_{n\to\infty}\inf\limits_{k\ge n}a_k$
both of these exist or are $\pm$ infinite for any sequence
Can I also write $\lim\limits_{n\to\infty}\sup\limits_{k\ge n}\{a_k\}$? Since we should be taking the supremum of a set
03:31
it would be $\lim\limits_{n\to\infty}\overbrace{\sup\{a_k:k\ge n\}}^{\sup\limits_{k\ge n}a_k}$
I see
Oh wait should the inequality be flipped?
Nope
limits deal with things that happen in the tail of the sequence
not in the beginning
ah
Wait but my understanding was that we are taking the supremum of subsequences starting with the first point and then adding more and more points each iteration, so this is the wrong understanding?
well, it depends on what you are doing with those subsequences.
well so I think $\{s_n\}$ should be a sequence of real numbers. each $s_n$ is the partial sum (up to $n$ terms) of a series.
03:42
now you're talking about a series. The sequence is the sequence of partial sums of the series.
Since taking sup$s_n$ literally would not make sense ($s_n$ is a single real number, not even a set), I am confused
13 mins ago, by robjohn
it would be $\lim\limits_{n\to\infty}\overbrace{\sup\{a_k:k\ge n\}}^{\sup\limits_{k\ge n}a_k}$
so $\sup\limits_{k\ge n}a_k$ is the sup over a set
look at theorem 3.19
some of this static may be due to rudin not adopting the more standard definition of lim sup
is this baby Rudin?
03:46
I do have that, but not right with me
here we are
I used to have RCA, but it got lost when my parents' house was sold.
yes, he's doing that (with the sequences labeled slightly differently)
lim sup s_n in the argument in 3.31 is e, by his definition of e
roughly speaking, you can "lim sup" both sides of an inequality of sequences to get an inequality of lim sups, he's doing that in a situation where when you lim sup the RHS, the lim sup is actually a limit that actually exists and was earlier defined to be e
how do I see that lim sup s_n is e? I am still confused what lim sup as an operation does, which is why I was struggling to show that lim sup s_n = e
I guess I could try to show that e is the supremum of the set of all subsequential limits, but that kind of beats around the bush
look at definition 3.30
03:51
$e = \lim_{n \rightarrow \infty} \sum_{k=0}^n \frac{1}{k!}$
and the remarks that follow
if i were to add more words to rudin, it would be "the sequence s_n = sum k=0..n 1/k! is a convergent sequence, and we are defining its limit to be e"
@SillyGoose Careful not to overuse the letter $n$.
oh whoops
Oh, you changed it.
per your comment yes
03:52
LOL, OK.
so the fact that "lim s_n" exists is noted/explained somewhat right after definition 3.30, and e is just rudin's name for it
Might be my name for it, too.
$e=\lim\limits_{n\to\infty}\left(1+\frac1n\right)^n$ is mine
the series is derived
rudin promoted that to theorem status
it is valid either way
03:57
they're just lemmas to me
@robjohn That’s certainly mine when talking to precalc students. Neither is the definition for calc theory students.
well so we have $\lim_{n \rightarrow \infty} t_n \leq e \implies \lim_{n \rightarrow \infty} \text{ sup }t_n \leq \lim_{n \rightarrow \infty} \text{ sup } e $, (I don't think this is what you were getting at, but this is a new confusion) well this doesn't make sense though :P.
@TedShifrin what's the definition for them?
i forget what stewart does. is it the a for which the slope of a^x at 0 is 1?
Down with $e$. It’s just a left-wing Democrat conspiracy.
03:58
Ah
silly: at that stage in rudin's argument i don't know if he knows or you know that lim t_n exists yet
For me, it’s $\log ^{-1}(1)$.
lim sup always exists, so you can infer from t_n <= s_n for all n that limsup t_n <= limsup s_n
and limsup s_n is e
@TedShifrin Just don't mention it in Tennessee (which has 4 e's)
04:00
wait but i am not getting why lim sup s_n is e
I must be missing something :P
What is your definition of $e$?
i get that lim s_n = e
wait the one I am using @robjohn?
if $\lim\limits_{n\to\infty}s_n$ exists, then it equals $\limsup\limits_{n\to\infty}s_n$
maybe this result is in the exercises... I have never seen it before :P
silly: the limit existing is equivalent to the liminf and limsup being equal (and in this case their common value is the value of the limit)
04:04
oh
well this is nice to know XD
this falls right out of rudin's definition. if s_n converges to e, all subsequences of s_n also converge to e, so the set "E" in rudin's definition of lim sup (definition 3.16) is the one-point set {e}
wait but why do all subsequences converge to the limit?
it's a little surprising he doesn't say much more about this, but it's also not like he's hiding anything too major
hooray for rudin
@SillyGoose if a sequence converges to a limit, then all subsequences also converge to that same limit.
silly: that falls out of the definition of convergence (given epsilon, take N that 'works' for the sequence in the sense of the epsilon-N condition, the same N will 'work' for every subsequence)
rudin includes this as a 'remark' after definition 3.5
he's nice enough to say "we leave the details of the proof to the reader," which is ten more words than he usually says about stuff like that
04:07
ah gosh i must have read over that bit
well this is helpful
04:48
@DLeftAdjointtoU Is there any solution manual to Ireland and Rosen's number theory book?
05:27
how could we give a rigorous description of a space where distance does not preserve volume
e.g. the mandelbox here youtube.com/watch?v=QhMdL4kSnsg
$(q^{n^2-n-1})= (q^n-q^2)...(q^n-q^{n-1})$
?
nvm
06:17
(removed)
06:39
In the search of solutions to Ireland and Rosen's book, I subscribed to numerade and some of the solutions there turned out to be incomplete (truncated and in some mathjax didn't render properly) and some even looked completely wrong.
Apparently there are no solutions available online after chapter 9 of the book.
The teacher finishes off 1 chapter of the book in one day in class.
In the same way, I can teach even biology students and can 'finish off' five chapters in half an hour and complete their entire syllabus in just a week.
it can be done faster. Just project the book on a screen and turn pages at high speed.
Medical intern students have to memorize under sleep deprived conditions.
< 6 hours sleep
same here.
for 6 consecutive days
06:51
I for the first time life developed a new disease: lack of sleep. I went to the doctor here and I hate to say this he was not helpful at all (as expected). He loaded me with so many medicines. I was worried and thought I may have to take sleeping pills.
just read a few pages of 'real and complex analysis.' ha, ha.
But then I stopped taking the medicines the doctor prescribed to me and brought some medicines from the outside and I was fine.
I was able to sleep again. That made me so happy. This happened without me taking sleeping pills.
Good for you pal 😁
@user726941 I understand, it is a very difficult and painful situation.
Due to lack of sleep, there is headache and you feel like every cell in your body is demanding sleep but as you go to bed, close your eyes, you can't fall asleep even if the whole body is tired!!
It's a very very painful situation. I wish it never happens to anyone.
The movie The Paper Chase shows the same for law students.
06:57
And then some strange thoughts start to kick in. I was thinking: 'am I going to collapse now?'
because see if I walked away from room, I felt dizzy. That was due to weakness caused by the medicines the doctor here prescribed.
Don't push too hard to stay awake, your brain needs time to absorb information.
Psychologists call it "consolidation."
I asked the doctor here: what is the cause of it? This never happened to me before. And he was browsing something on his device... and I said: here are the medicines etc.
Can anyone please help me with this: math.stackexchange.com/questions/4673094/… ?
Only teachers are not terrible here.
lethargy is very common here.
Memory consolidation is a category of processes that stabilize a memory trace after its initial acquisition. A memory trace is a change in the nervous system caused by memorizing something. Consolidation is distinguished into two specific processes. The first, synaptic consolidation, which is thought to correspond to late-phase long-term potentiation, occurs on a small scale in the synaptic connections and neural circuits within the first few hours after learning. The second process is systems consolidation, occurring on a much larger scale in the brain, rendering hippocampus-dependent memories...
"within a few hours after learning"
07:06
yeah . Brain processes what was learnt before sleep.
Sleep makes it solid.
07:27
The relationship between sleep and memory has been studied since at least the early 19th century. Memory, the cognitive process of storing and retrieving past experiences, learning and recognition, is a product of brain plasticity, the structural changes within synapses that create associations between stimuli. Stimuli are encoded within milliseconds; however, the long-term maintenance of memories can take additional minutes, days, or even years to fully consolidate and become a stable memory that is accessible (more resistant to change or interference). Therefore, the formation of a specific memory...
07:44
@Franklin I have added a solution. math.stackexchange.com/a/4673113/977780
08:15
@SouravGhosh I have edited it. Is my complete solution valid, now?
@SouravGhosh A little suggestion(optional) : Please edit your post, so that I can accept it!
@SouravGhosh thanks for your clarifications and validations!
08:53
@TedShifrin $\operatorname{nnn}_{n\to n}\operatorname{\Large{N}}^n_{n=n}\frac{1}{n!}$
 
2 hours later…
11:18
Hi can you please give references for this theorem: Let $A$ be a bounded linear operator on a Banach space $X$. Then the IVP $u_t=Au, t\in\mathbb R$ and $u(0)=f\in X$ has a unique solution $u\in C^{\infty}(\mathbb R;X)$.
I know that the solution is $u(t)=e^{At}f$.
 
2 hours later…
13:20
0
Q: Permutation Combination

GaneshLet $C = \{(i, j)|i, j \in \mathbb Z,\; 0 ≀ i, j ≀ 24\}$. How many squares can be formed in the plane all of whose vertices are in $C$ and whose sides are parallel to the Xβˆ’axis and Y βˆ’ axis?

I stumbled upon this. Any ideas how to solve this, all the comments and answer seems unclear. πŸ€”
@Franklin Have you attempted to do what was suggested in the comments?
I tried doing it for smaller arrangements, say, $i,j\leq 2$ as suggested by a commentor
@XanderHenderson I am in search of patterns here, to be honest
I often get the impression that you approach mathematics from the point of view that the goal is to produce an answer. When I ask you if you have done a thing or not, I am not looking for a "yes" or "no" answer---I am asking you to explain your thinking. The implicit question is "did you try [x]? and, if so, how did it go? what did you actually do?"
13:24
Let me play with increasing nos a bit more
@XanderHenderson ok, ok, ok, ok. Let me formalize my approach a bit, I will definitely let you know about my ideas
, once it looks presentable and less convoluted
Again, remember that the goal of mathematics is, ultimately, to communicate ideas. Solving a problem is pointless if you can't explain your solution to another person.
13:45
In mathematics the art of proposing a question must be held of higher value than solving it.
-Georg Cantor
14:05
After watching "Clouds Are Not Spheres," I
now see why Mandelbrot was considered such a "think outside the box" kind of mathematician.
14:38
D^2 can not retract to S^1.
It's true but hard to believe.
Here is a proof: Let $i:S^1 \hookrightarrow D^2$ be inclusion. The induced homomorphism $i_*$ should be an injection if there existed the said retraction.
But this is not possible as pi_1 of D^2 is 0 and that of S^1 is Z.
D^2 can contract to any point on its boundary.
15:04
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhMdL4kSnsg

is there any way to formalize the fact that the volume of this structure, when you're outside of it, is smaller than its volume when you're inside of it? and any time you go deeper into it, the volume sort of expands
Take $X=\Bbb R^{1,1}$ and its conformal compactification $\overline X.$ How do you construct an immersion $f:\overline X \to \Bbb R^{2,1}?$
15:22
So I got totally nerd-sniped by math.stackexchange.com/q/784895, which @Franklin cited, above. I have written an answer, which I will undelete once @Franklin gives me a more complete response to my questions. I'll not that my essential idea is to integrate $1$ over the space of possibilities (where, because the space is discrete, the integral is just a sum). This is a different approach than the one suggested in the comment and other answer.
So, @Franklin, please respond to my questions. :D
In fact, I would encourage you to figure out the problem per the given hints, and then post your solution.
Have you seen Clouds are not Spheres? @XanderHenderson
@user85795 Yes.
I have one confusion here. I think that in the covering space, path a should also be returning to the bottom point.
What is the meaning of this ?
Now let $\tilde X$ be any other graph with four ends of edges at each vertex, as
in X.
what is "graph with four ends of edges at each vertex"?
edge has two ends.
how come 4?
what's going on?
15:43
Hello. I want to prove that $B^n/S^{n-1}$ is homemorphic to $S^n$. By means of stereographic projection I've proved that $B^n\setminus\partial B^n\cong S^n\setminus\{N\}$. Could you help me understand if what I did afterward works? I noticed that $B^n/S^{n-1}$ is basically $B^n\setminus\partial$ plus another point (the boundary identified to a point). At this point I extend the homeomorphism from $B^n\setminus\partial$ to $S^n\setminus\{N\}$ to a map from $B^n/S^{n-1}$ to $S^n$.
which maps the boundary $\partial B^n$ to $N$. Since both of this are closed set, I concluded that this extended map is continuous (and obviously invertible)
I think the homeomorphism that you proved is wrong. What is $S^n\setminus \{N\}$ ? Are you removing north pole?
then it is wrong, I think.
Circle minus a point is homeomorphic to R for example.
And the circle is $S^1$
Try to show that the quotient is one point compactification of $B^n- S^{n-1}$
Intuitively, the space $B^n -S^{n-1}\cong R^n$, which 1 pt. compactifies to $S^n$
15:48
I used the fact that the $n$-sphere $S^n$ without the north pole is homeomorphic to $\mathbb{R}^n$ and then the fact that the open ball $B^n-\partial B^n$ is homeomorphic to $\mathbb{R}^n$. What's wrong with this?
@Koro and that's the same as $S^n\setminus\{N\}$
Oh I'm sorry. I thought you have written $B^n/\partial B^n$
Oh, ok
But you have written $B^n- \partial B^n$
which is as you said $R^n\cong S^n - \{N\}$.
@Thorgott: can you please also look at my question? This is regarding covering space of S^1 wedge S^1.
The part that I am not sure about is if it's ok to extend the homeomorphism as I said above and conclude such extension is a homemorphism
15:53
but you said that you proved it to be continuous.
A firm that refurbishes personal computers (PCs) recently received 24 faulty computers
of a similar make and model. 21 PCs have been fixed but an intern mistakenly packaged all the PCs to storage without labeling. The repair engineer will need to test the PCs one after another until he identifies the 3 PCs that are not yet fixed. Find the probability that he tested 15 computers to complete the task
$P(\text{test 15, exactly 3 faulty}) = \frac{{21 \choose 12}{3 \choose 3}}{{24 \choose 15}} = \frac{154}{2,704,156} \approx 0.00006$ Is this correct ?
The result you are proving is true in more generality :-). X= compact hausdorff, A = a closed subspace of X, then X/A = one pt. compactification of (X-A)
The proof is almost similar to how you are trying to do it (but it doesn't use any stereorgraphic projection)
@Koro I said I concluded it is continuous because in $B^n-\partial B^n$ it is continuous by construction and I basically added a point (closed set in this case) to the domain and its image is another point (still a closed set)
@Koro Sorry, I'm not familiar with topology so I don't know such result :/
@Mr.Feynman
A firm that refurbishes personal computers (PCs) recently received 24 faulty computers
of a similar make and model. 21 PCs have been fixed but an intern mistakenly packaged all the PCs to storage without labeling. The repair engineer will need to test the PCs one after another until he identifies the 3 PCs that are not yet fixed. Find the probability that he tested 15 computers to complete the task
$P(\text{test 15, exactly 3 faulty}) = \frac{{21 \choose 12}{3 \choose 3}}{{24 \choose 15}} = \frac{154}{2,704,156} \approx 0.00006$ Is this correct ? @XanderHenderson
16:02
@mathsstudent Off the top of my head, I have no idea.
What is your thinking?
And why are you pinging me?
I don't have any particular expertise on counting.
@Mr.Feynman that's not quite enough. if $X$ is a space, it is possible to put different topologies on $X\sqcup\{\ast\}$ such that the point $\{ast\}$ is closed and the subspace topology on $X$ is the original topology. for example, you can take the disjoint union topology on $X\sqcup\{\ast\}$, but also the topology whose open sets are the open sets of $X$ and the entire space.
@Koro which question?
33 mins ago, by Koro
I have one confusion here. I think that in the covering space, path a should also be returning to the bottom point.
The link takes to that diagram.
@mathsstudent Your numbers for your combinations are incorrect. Furthermore, you need to think of the problem at hand. If the technician finds all 3 faulty computers in the first 3 tries, he will not try the remaining 12 times. What does this imply about the problem?
@Thorgott I'm using the quotient topology in thr quotient set, which apparently satisfies the requirements you mention. I don't understand why (or what) it is not enough.
@Mr.Feynman Second line: The part 'I noticed that ...'. Question is: Suppose X is a space, and suppose you say X plus a point p, then I think you mean X union {p}. Right? But what topology are you giving to 'X plus p'?
16:25
@Koro Yes, I mean $X\cup\{p\}$. In this case, since I was saying that $X\cup\{p\}$ was basically my quotient set (because the boundary is identified to a point), I'm assuming there is the quotient topology (the original topology was the one subspace topology of the sphere in $\mathbb{R}^n$)
If I wasn't clear enough, I'm saying that $B^n/S^{n-1}=(B^n-\partial B^n)\cup\{P\}$ (where P is the identified boundary) and in the LHS I have the quotient topology
@Koro I'm not sure what the phrase "path should return to the bottom point" is supposed to mean nor how to read the diagrams in the video.
@Mr.Feynman I'm saying just because you have two spaces and the results of removing a point from each is homeomorphic does not quite mean the two spaces themselves are homeomorphic. But yes, using the quotient property to get continuity of the map in one direction is a good step.
16:43
Boy... it is getting to be a thing today. I try to interact with folk, and they ignore me entirely...
@XanderHenderson except for those with whom you don't try to interact.
@XanderHenderson Are you saying something?
No. Nothing at all. :/
That's what I thought.
Yeah. Carry on.
16:45
It sure is quiet in here...
@Thorgott Too bad I never thought to give this as a test question on a topology exam :)
@XanderHenderson Sorry for being late, I was busy with some of my daily coursework problems. To be back again, I think the number of squares in an $n*n$ grid is $1+2^2+3^2+...+n^2$ . No, I have not been able to prove this, but surely this is the pattern it follows
@Franklin Why?!
3 hours ago, by Xander Henderson
I often get the impression that you approach mathematics from the point of view that the goal is to produce an answer. When I ask you if you have done a thing or not, I am not looking for a "yes" or "no" answer---I am asking you to explain your thinking. The implicit question is "did you try [x]? and, if so, how did it go? what did you actually do?"
@XanderHenderson I did observations :) with $0\leq i,j\leq 2,3,4...$
But I really dont understand if you mean greatest integer function by [x] ?
@Franklin No, I mean [x] to mean some fill in the blank.
In the previous conversation, [x] is the statement "to use the hint in the comments? or the answer already given?".
@Franklin This is a start. What observations did you make?
16:51
@XanderHenderson number of squares in an $n*n$ grid is $1+2^2+3^2+...+n^2$
Presumably, you spotted a pattern. Can you extend that pattern?
@Franklin WHY?!
What is the proof?
@XanderHenderson extend to what ?
@XanderHenderson if I had the proof, I wouldh've been done :?)
@XanderHenderson trying to figure out
But I am makinv it too complicated
@Franklin You made observations for a small number of cases. Can you extend that observation to larger cases?
@XanderHenderson For the proof part, as you mention previously, my idea is: Finding k×k squares possible in an n×n grid, where n\leq k,
I tried to consider squares from origin, then translate k units in x axis, build a k*k square
Okay... that might work (I don't know). How does the proof go?
16:55
And continue this, until we are exhausted, and move to y=1, line and do the same and continue this.
@XanderHenderson not a desirable outcome, as I only have this idea, and when I try implementing it, it becomes too much convoluted
And confusing as well...
Now, I am out of ideas
Well, the suggestion was to start with small cases.
Often, when you start with small cases and work them out, you spot some kind of pattern.
Since the pattern extends over the natural numbers, a natural (ahem) approach might be induction?
@XanderHenderson cool! Let me try again with this idea fresh in my mind
what if we did math with numbers in prime factorization, would make addition/subtraction harder but multiplication/division easier
would also save space for larger numbers
@Thorgott there are 3 dots above. I referred to the dot at the bottom in the image.
@Franklin Not to chime in when you might have already done this, but since you're restricting your grid to be square, don't forget to let rotational symmetry help you!
17:05
From that dot, one path should leave and one should enter.
@Thorgott Now, the quotient topology grants that the point I excluded constitutes a closed set. If I define a function $f:\{\partial B^n\}\rightarrow\{N\}\quad f(\partial B^n)=N$ that is continuous since the preimage of a closed set is closed (the excluded points are the only two non-trivial sets there)
And then I wanted to consider the union of $f$ and the homeomorphism I had found before
17:23
Okay, I've now written up two solutions to this stupid problem. After you figure it out, @Franklin, let me know, and I'll undelete those solutions.
Though I don't know how I managed to get nerd-sniped by this.
@XanderHenderson This is gonna be long:
To find the total number of squares in an $n \times n$ grid, we can count the number of squares of each size from $1 \times 1$ up to $n \times n$, and then add up the totals.
There are $n^2$ squares of size $1 \times 1$ in the grid.
There are $(n-1)^2$ squares of size $2 \times 2$ in the grid, since there are $(n-1)$ rows and $(n-1)$ columns in which a $2 \times 2$ square can be placed.
Similarly, there are $(n-2)^2$ squares of size $3 \times 3$, $(n-3)^2$ squares of size $4 \times 4$, and so on, down to $1 \times 1$ squares.
@XanderHenderson I think what I did is trash, but you might take a look,...
Okay... so you are fixing a side length $\ell$, then counting the number of squares of that size. That seems totally reasonable.
@XanderHenderson So, you're saying, this is valid ?...
Or am I too fast for a conclusion...
If I choose a side length $\ell$, I can put a square with lower-left vertex $(i,j)$ at any point where $i+\ell < n$ and $j+\ell < n$. There are $(n-\ell)^2$ such choices.
And then I add up all possibilities with $\ell \in \{1,2,\dotsc, n\}$.
Yes, it seems to work.
I would suggest that you post that as an answer. It is a third approach, distinct from the two I came up with.
@XanderHenderson Ohh...you posted a solution! I didn't notice it. No, please don't delete it, I want to know your approaxh as well :)
17:30
@Franklin I've posted two solutions, which I will now undelete, as you have given me your argument.
@XanderHenderson I remain obsecreted!
Again, I would suggest that your approach is also interesting, and merits posting.
@XanderHenderson I will post it, once I plug in more details and make it look a bit more formal. But I liked your second solution using induction so much! Indeed, I said this earlier and I say it now, you are gifted. I never ever thought about it like this or even if I thought I could not implement it. I have a long way to go!
17:45
@Franklin Gifted? No. I have simply trained a lot longer than you. Experience---working through a lot of hard problems---is the key.
Suppose we have a path that is not a loop. Can it be homotopic (path) to a constant loop?
@Koro What is a "constant loop"?
Is that not just a single point?
It's a constant map [0,1]-->X
@Koro Right, so the image of the "loop" is a point.
yes.
17:55
Won't any non-intersecting map $\gamma : [0,1] \to X$ which is not a loop deformation retract to a point?
I think the said homotopy can exist.
@XanderHenderson depending upon the space yes and no.
In R^2, yes.
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