Visual thinking and simplicity of proof

DOI10.1098/RSTA.2018.0032MaRDI QIDQ5204799zbMATH OpenOpenAlexWikidataFDO

Authors Alan J. Cain

Publication date 5 December 2019

Published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/1803.00038, http://europepmc.org/articles/pmc6365844

zbMATH Keywords

diagramsvisual thinkingspatial thinkingsimplicity of proof

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Methodology of mathematics (00A35) Reasoning and proving in the mathematics classroom (97E50)

Abstract: This paper studies how spatial thinking interacts with simplicity in [informal] proof, by analysing a set of example proofs mainly concerned with Ferrers diagrams (visual representations of partitions of integers, and comparing them to proofs that do not use spatial thinking. The analysis shows that using diagrams and spatial thinking can contribute to simplicity by (for example) avoiding technical calculations, division into cases, and induction, and creating a more surveyable and explanatory proof (both of which are connected to simplicity). In response to one part of Hilbert's 24th Problem, the area between two proofs is explored in one example, showing that between a proof that uses spatial reasoning and one that does not, there is a proof that is less simple than either.

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Cited in

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