Title of the course: Surreal numbers
Instructor: Asst. Prof. Burak Kaya
Institution: Middle East Technical University
Dates: 26 August – 1 September 2024
Prerequisites: None
Level: Beginning undergraduate, advanced undergraduate, beginning graduate
Abstract: In this course, we shall learn the basic theory of surreal numbers. The class of surreal numbers, first discovered by John Conway, is a class-sized ordered field that contains an isomorphic copy of every ordered field, including infinitesimal and infinite elements. In a sense, surreal numbers is “a unification of all numbers great and small” as Ehrlich once put it. In this course, we shall first cover the basic construction of surreal numbers together with its arithmetic and order structure, and then explore some basic properties of the surreal field. If time permits, we may cover how to do basic analysis on the surreal field.
Language: TR, EN
Textbook: “On numbers and games” by Conway and “An introduction to the theory of surreal numbers” by Gonshor.