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Mahāvīra (or Mahaviracharya, "Mahavira the Teacher") was a 9th-century Jain mathematician from Mysore, India. He was the author of ''Gaṇitasārasan̄graha'' (or ''Ganita Sara Samgraha'', c. 850), which revised the Brāhmasphuṭasiddhānta. He was patronised by the Rashtrakuta king Amoghavarsha. He separated astrology from mathematics. It is the earliest Indian text entirely devoted to mathematics.〔The Math Book: From Pythagoras to the 57th Dimension, 250 Milestones in the ... by Clifford A. Pickover: page 88〕 He expounded on the same subjects on which Aryabhata and Brahmagupta contended, but he expressed them more clearly. His work is a highly syncopated approach to algebra and the emphasis in much of his text is on developing the techniques necessary to solve algebraic problems.〔Algebra: Sets, Symbols, and the Language of Thought by John Tabak: p.43〕 He is highly respected among Indian mathematicians, because of his establishment of terminology for concepts such as equilateral, and isosceles triangle; rhombus; circle and semicircle.〔Geometry in Ancient and Medieval India by T. A. Sarasvati Amma: page 122〕 Mahāvīra's eminence spread in all South India and his books proved inspirational to other mathematicians in Southern India. It was translated into Telugu language by Pavuluri Mallana as ''Saar Sangraha Ganitam''.〔Census of the Exact Sciences in Sanskrit by David Pingree: page 388〕 He discovered algebraic identities like a3=a(a+b)(a-b) +b2(a-b) + b3. He also found out the formula for nCr as ()/r(r-1)(r-2)...2 *1. He devised formula which approximated area and perimeters of ellipses and found methods to calculate the square of a number and cube roots of a number. He asserted that the square root of a negative number did not exist. ==Rules for decomposing fractions== Mahāvīra's ''Gaṇita-sāra-saṅgraha'' gave systematic rules for expressing a fraction as the sum of unit fractions. This follows the use of unit fractions in Indian mathematics in the Vedic period, and the Śulba Sūtras' giving an approximation of √2 equivalent to .〔 In the ''Gaṇita-sāra-saṅgraha'' (GSS), the second section of the chapter on arithmetic is named ''kalā-savarṇa-vyavahāra'' (lit. "the operation of the reduction of fractions"). In this, the ''bhāgajāti'' section (verses 55–98) gives rules for the following:〔 * To express 1 as the sum of ''n'' unit fractions (GSS ''kalāsavarṇa'' 75, examples in 76):〔 :: * To express 1 as the sum of an odd number of unit fractions (GSS ''kalāsavarṇa'' 77):〔 :: * To express a unit fraction as the sum of ''n'' other fractions with given numerators (GSS ''kalāsavarṇa'' 78, examples in 79): :: * To express any fraction as a sum of unit fractions (GSS ''kalāsavarṇa'' 80, examples in 81):〔 : Choose an integer ''i'' such that is an integer ''r'', then write :: : and repeat the process for the second term, recursively. (Note that if ''i'' is always chosen to be the ''smallest'' such integer, this is identical to the greedy algorithm for Egyptian fractions.) * To express a unit fraction as the sum of two other unit fractions (GSS ''kalāsavarṇa'' 85, example in 86):〔 :: where is to be chosen such that is an integer (for which must be a multiple of ). :: * To express a fraction as the sum of two other fractions with given numerators and (GSS ''kalāsavarṇa'' 87, example in 88):〔 :: where is to be chosen such that divides Some further rules were given in the ''Gaṇita-kaumudi'' of Nārāyaṇa in the 14th century.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mahāvīra (mathematician)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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