,
,
,
,
or even expressions of those terms combined as if that would make them defined. I have made this post to answer these questions once and for all, and I politely ask everyone to link this post to threads that are talking about this issue.
,
isn't even rigorously defined in this expression. What exactly do we mean by 
.
,
does not exist in the first place, although you will see why in a calculus course. So the point is that 
?
indeterminate? In analysis (the theory behind calculus and beyond), limits involving an algebraic combination of functions in an independent variable may often be evaluated by replacing these functions by their limits. However, if the expression obtained after this substitution does not provide sufficient information to determine the original limit, then the expression is called an indeterminate form. For example, we could say that 
,
or ![\[0/0, \infty/\infty, \infty-\infty, \infty \times 0\]](http://latex.artofproblemsolving.com/2/6/0/260f97a1cf1ea8722ff97a29b83bac7bfe83e577.png)
etc etc. So what makes something undefined? In the broader scope, something being undefined refers to an expression which is not assigned an interpretation or a value. A function is said to be undefined for points outside its domain. For example, the function 
given by the mapping 
is undefined for 
.
is undefined because dividing by ![\[\overline{\mathbb{R}}=\mathbb{R}\cup \{-\infty,+\infty\}.\]](http://latex.artofproblemsolving.com/9/9/3/993c78b62ec2c84b5d77daa8e9a8cd6f70fcf904.png)
So instead of treating infinity as an idea, we define infinity (positively and negatively, mind you) as actual numbers in the reals. The advantage of doing this is for two reasons. The first is because we can turn this thing into a totally ordered set. Specifically, we can let 
for each 
which means that via this order topology each subset has an infimum and supremum and 
is therefore compact. While this is nice from an analytic standpoint, extending the reals in this way can allow for interesting arithmetic! In ![\begin{align*}
a + \infty = \infty + a & = \infty, & a & \neq -\infty \\
a - \infty = -\infty + a & = -\infty, & a & \neq \infty \\
a \cdot (\pm\infty) = \pm\infty \cdot a & = \pm\infty, & a & \in (0, +\infty] \\
a \cdot (\pm\infty) = \pm\infty \cdot a & = \mp\infty, & a & \in [-\infty, 0) \\
\frac{a}{\pm\infty} & = 0, & a & \in \mathbb{R} \\
\frac{\pm\infty}{a} & = \pm\infty, & a & \in (0, +\infty) \\
\frac{\pm\infty}{a} & = \mp\infty, & a & \in (-\infty, 0).
\end{align*}](http://latex.artofproblemsolving.com/6/d/8/6d8fc1eca5c791d430a7168cd3b37a02104fa318.png)
So addition, multiplication, and division are all defined nicely. However, notice that we have some indeterminate forms here which are also undefined,![\[\infty-\infty,\frac{\pm\infty}{\pm\infty},\frac{\pm\infty}{0},0\cdot \pm\infty.\]](http://latex.artofproblemsolving.com/a/0/b/a0b67076efcc014c78b2023be1151c84b57c1503.png)
So while we define certain things, we also left others undefined/indeterminate in the process! However, in the context of measure theory it is common to define 
as greenturtle3141 noted below. I encourage to reread what he wrote, it's great stuff! As you may notice, though, dividing by ![\[\mathbb{C}^*=\mathbb{C}\cup\{\tilde{\infty}\}\]](http://latex.artofproblemsolving.com/8/4/e/84ed3d6ab237df970333b87beaef5311caa46185.png)
which we call the Riemann Sphere (it actually forms a sphere, pretty cool right?). As a note, 
means complex infinity, since we are in the complex plane now. Here's the catch: division by ![\[\frac{z}{0}=\tilde{\infty},\frac{z}{\tilde{\infty}}=0.\]](http://latex.artofproblemsolving.com/1/6/0/160cb939707708ff4e0930724df2928af11d7fd1.png)
where 
and 
Furthermore, we actually have some nice properties with multiplication that we didn't have before. In 
it holds that![\[\tilde{\infty}\times \tilde{\infty}=\tilde{\infty}\]](http://latex.artofproblemsolving.com/8/e/0/8e035b4841d20c5ad671c46355cc667ca01e533b.png)
but 
and 
are left as undefined (unless there is an explicit need to change that somehow). One could define the projectively extended reals as we did with ![\[{\widehat {\mathbb {R} }}=\mathbb {R} \cup \{\infty \}.\]](http://latex.artofproblemsolving.com/c/0/4/c044ff37849acad3b8b280b9753539225a1276ca.png)
They behave in a similar way to the Riemann Sphere, with division by 
positive real numbers satisfying 
,![$\sqrt[3]{\frac{a^3+b^3+c^3}{3}}+\frac{a+b+c}{9} \geq \frac{4}{3}$](http://latex.artofproblemsolving.com/c/b/3/cb39e7f838c99ed8a209c6844f3d2810838d1dfd.png)
.
denote the set of natural numbers, and let 
,
,
.
whose product is a perfect cube.
are written on the board.In each step,two random numbers 
and 
are chosen and deleted.Then,the number 
is written instead.What will be the number remained on the board after the last step.
liters of milk. Then, 
liters are removed from the container and replaced with 
Y by Rounak_iitr
Alice and Bob are playing game on an 
grid. Alice goes first, and they take turns drawing a black point from the coordinate set
![\[\{(i, j) \mid i, j \in \mathbb{N}, 1 \leq i, j \leq n\}\]](//latex.artofproblemsolving.com/4/3/f/43f7493d1dff43079eb5481ee17bc8f16d7b9553.png)
There is a constraint that the distance between any two black points cannot be an integer. The player who cannot draw a black point loses. Find all integers 
such that Alice has a winning strategy.
Proposed by chengbilly
grid. Alice goes first, and they take turns drawing a black point from the coordinate set![\[\{(i, j) \mid i, j \in \mathbb{N}, 1 \leq i, j \leq n\}\]](http://latex.artofproblemsolving.com/4/3/f/43f7493d1dff43079eb5481ee17bc8f16d7b9553.png)
There is a constraint that the distance between any two black points cannot be an integer. The player who cannot draw a black point loses. Find all integers 
such that Alice has a winning strategy.Proposed by chengbilly
This post has been edited 1 time. Last edited by chengbilly, Mar 5, 2025, 5:09 AM
.
.
then
is not a square. Alice can mark 
since points are symmetrical with respect to 
i
.
then Bob should mark 
.
is not a square.
.
then Bob wins.
Alice can play any point, but follow the rule; then she'll win. And if 
Bob can play any point, but follow the rule; then he'll win. Cuz the problem is equivalent to: pick any point and draw all point on its row and column by black. The game must end after 
both can't be marked.
then notice 
is a perfect square
of the grid denote cell 
.
,
must be either already colored black or an integer distance away from a black point. The former is impossible due to the symmetric nature of the moves until this point. For the latter to be possible the violating pair must be either 
, 
or 
where 
.
implying that Bob performed an illegal move in his previous move. Further if 
.
must be a violating pair where 
is the reflection of 
across the center square. But by the nature of the algorithm, 
, 
,
and 
.
for 
must be a violating pair. In the later case, the reflection of 
for odd positive integers 
which can never be a perfect square. Thus, this distance is not an integer and hence it cannot be a violating pair. Thus, as long as Alice has a legal move, so does Bob and since the number of cells on the board is even, it is Alice who runs out of legal moves first.
