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Poincaré’s proof of the co-called Birkhoff-Witt theorem

Tuong Ton-That, Thai-Duong Tran (1999)

Revue d'histoire des mathématiques

A methodical analysis of the research related to the article, “Sur les groupes continus”, of Henri Poincaré reveals many historical misconceptions and inaccuracies regarding his contribution to Lie theory. A thorough reading of this article confirms the priority of his discovery of many important concepts, especially that of the universal enveloping algebra of a Lie algebra over the real or complex field, and the canonical map (symmetrization) of the symmetric algebra onto the universal enveloping...

Positive Thinking. Conceptions of Negative Quantities in the Netherlands and the Reception of Lacroix’s Algebra Textbook

Danny J. Beckers (2000)

Revue d'histoire des mathématiques

The beginning of the 19th century witnessed the emergence of several new approaches to negative numbers. New notions of rigour made the 18th century conceptions of negative quantities unacceptable. This paper discusses theories of negative numbers emerging in the Netherlands in the early 19th century. Dutch mathematicians then opted for a different approach than that of their contemporaries, in Germany or France. The Dutch translation (1821) of Lacroix’s Élémens d’algèbre illustrates the ‘Dutch’...

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