In the set of 3-adic numbers, the closed ballofradius1/3 "centered" at 1, callitB, is the set This closed ball partitions into exactly three smaller closed balls of radius 1/9: and Then each of those balls partitions into exactly 3 smaller closed balls of radius 1/27, and the sub-partitioning can be continued indefinitely, in a fractal manner. Likewise, going upwards in the hierarchy, B is part of the closed ball of radius 1 centered at 1, namely, the set of integers. Two other closed balls of radius 1 are "centered" at 1/3 and 2/3, and all three closed balls of radius 1 form a closed ball of radius 3, which is one out of three closed balls forming a closed ball of radius 9, and so on.
1914, Bulletin of the American Mathematical Society, page 452:
1991, M. D. Missarov, “Renormalization Group and Renormalization Theory in p-Adic and Adelic Scalar Models”, in Ya. G. Sinaĭ, editor, Dynamical Systems and Statistical Mechanics: From the Seminar on Statistical Physics held at Moscow State University, American Mathematical Society, page 143:
is called the p-adic number field, and its elements are called p-adic numbers. In this section we introduce the p-adic number fields, which are very important objects in number theory. The p-adic numbers were originally introduced by Hensel around 1900.
使用する際の注意点
An expanded, constructive definition:
For given , the natural numbers are exactly those expressible as some finite sum , where each is an integer: and . (To this extent, acts exactly like a base).
The slightly more general sum (where can be negative) expresses a class of fractions: natural numbers divided by a power of .
Much more expressiveness (to encompass all of ) results from permitting infinite sums: .
The p-adic ultrametric and the limitation on coefficients together ensure convergence, meaning that infinite sums can be manipulated to produce valid results that at times seem paradoxical. (For example, a sum with positive coefficients can represent a negative rational number. In fact, the concept negative has limited meaning for p-adic numbers; it is best simply interpreted as additive inverse.)
Forming the completion of with respect to the ultrametric means augmenting it with the limit points of all such infinite sums.
The augmented set is denoted .
The construction works generally (for any integer ), but it is only for prime that it becomes of significant mathematical interest.
For the power of some prime number, is still a field. For other composite , is a ring, but not a field.
is not the same as .
For example, for any , and, for some values of , .
下位語
(element of a completion of the rational numbers with respect to a p-adic ultrametric):