Self-Reference in Mathematics & Gödel’s Incompleteness Theorems

SELF-REFERENCE IN MATHEMATICS & GÖDEL’S INCOMPLETENESS THEOREMS presented by Tim Melvin, Santa Rosa Junior College

In 1931, in his Incompleteness Theorems, Kurt Gödel shocked the math community by showing that truth and proof are not the same, at least in many formal systems of arithmetic. During this talk, we will cover some of the history of formalism in mathematics that led to Gödel’s results and how Gödel used self-reference in formal systems of arithmetic to create statements that are true but not provable within the system.

In Person: Darwin 103, Virtual: bit.ly/SP24_math_talks

For more information, including the complete list of this semester's speakers, visit our website: https://math.sonoma.edu/math-colloquium