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This article describes
Knuth's up-arrow notation to represent
iterated exponentiation with base
(
power towers with base
) and a
down-arrow notation to represent the
iterated logarithm (with base
) inverse of
iterated exponentiation.
Knuth's up-arrow notation
In 1976, Donald Knuth introduced the following up-arrow notation for power towers
with
where
is the order of the power tower with base
, and
is the result of the power tower evaluation.
Down-arrow notation
The down-arrow notation defines a logarithmic-type inverse of the up-arrow notation
where
is the number of
iterations of the logarithm (base
) required such that
.
In particular, we have
where
is the number of
iterations of the natural logarithm required such that
.
Now, if we have
then
where
is a
positive integer. How could we generalize
to
integers,
rational numbers,
real numbers or
complex numbers for all
? For
, we do have a generalization.
See also
Hierarchical list of operations pertaining to numbers [1] [2]
0th iteration
1st iteration
- Addition:
S(S(⋯ "a times" ⋯ (S(n)))) |
, the sum , where is the augend and is the addend. (When addition is commutative both are simply called terms.)
- Subtraction:
P(P(⋯ "s times" ⋯ (P(n)))) |
, the difference , where is the minuend and is the subtrahend.
2nd iteration
- Multiplication:
n + (n + (⋯ "k times" ⋯ (n + (n)))) |
, the product , where is the multiplicand and is the multiplier.[3] (When multiplication is commutative both are simply called factors.)
- Division: the ratio , where is the dividend and is the divisor.
3rd iteration
- Exponentiation ( as "degree", as "base", as "variable").
- Powers:
n ⋅ (n ⋅ (⋯ "d times" ⋯ (n ⋅ (n)))) |
, written .
- Exponentials:
b ⋅ (b ⋅ (⋯ "n times" ⋯ (b ⋅ (b)))) |
, written .
- Exponentiation inverses ( as "degree", as "base", as "variable").
4th iteration
- Tetration ( as "degree", as "base", as "variable").
- Tetration inverses ( as "degree", as "base", as "variable").
5th iteration
- Pentation ( as "degree", as "base", as "variable").
- Pentation inverses
6th iteration
- Hexation ( as "degree", as "base", as "variable").
- Hexation inverses
7th iteration
- Heptation ( as "degree", as "base", as "variable").
- Heptation inverses
8th iteration
- Octation ( as "degree", as "base", as "variable").
- Octa-powers:
n ^^^^^ (n ^^^^^ (⋯ "d times" ⋯ (n ^^^^^ (n)))) |
, written .
- Octa-exponentials:
b ^^^^^ (b ^^^^^ (⋯ "n times" ⋯ (b ^^^^^ (b)))) |
, written .
- Octation inverses
Notes
External links