Chinese Quarterly Journal of Mathematics ›› 2011, Vol. 26 ›› Issue (3): 420-425.

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An Analytical Study of Leibniz’s Secant and Tangent on the Logical Basis of Mathematical Infinity

  

  1. 1. School of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics 2. State Key Laboratory of Software Development Environment, Beihang University 3. School of Electronics and Information Engineering, Nanjing University of Technology 4. Institute of Modern Logic and Applications, Nanjing University 
  • Received:2011-03-03 Online:2011-09-30 Published:2023-04-21
  • About author:ZHU Wu-jia(1934-), male, native of Yixing, Jiangsu, a professor of Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, engages in logic, mathematic foundation and computer science.
  • Supported by:
    Supported by the Open Fund of the State Key Laboratory of Software Development Environment(SKLSDE-2011KF-04); Supported by the Beihang University and by the National High Technology Research and Development Program of China(863 Program)(2009AA043303);

Abstract: Refs 1 and 2 provide the definition of the concepts of ‘potential infinity’(poi) and actual infinity(aci); Ref 3 discusses and verifies that poi and aci are a pair of contradictory opposites without intermediate (p,-p).The second part of this paper, i.e., §2, further discusses the manners in which a variable x approaches infinitely to its limit x0 using the poi and aci methods and concludes that, in any system compatible with both poi and aci, the two approaching manners are also a pair of contradictory opposites without intermediate (A,-A). Finally, on the basis of this conclusion, we reexamine the fundamental question of Leibniz’s Secant and Tangent Lines in calculus and the limit theory and offer our analysis and raise new questions. 

Key words: calculus, limit theory, potential infinity, actual infinity

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