Talk:Real analysis

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This article is within the scope of WikiProject Mathematics.
Mathematics grading:	Start Class	Mid Importance	Field: Analysis
Solid block of text needs breaking up into sections, with information on history, motivation, applications and examples. Tompw 17:43, 7 October 2006 (UTC)

Isn't this suficiently dealt with on the mathematical analysis page? Why is a separate page needed? -Stuart

This page's structure - explaining what sequence a book would introduce the subtopics - doesn't really make an encyclopedia entry i don't think... Enochlau 17:29, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Old page - we do things differently now. Charles Matthews 17:38, 21 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Yes this page needs to be rewritten ;-) Paul August ☎ 17:54, Apr 21, 2005 (UTC)

I would like to see some examples of where this sort of extremely abstract mathematics is used in the field, particularly with links to the appropriate astrophysics and quantum theory pages. -Eliezer Kanal 11:24 PM, Oct 15, 2005

Well, I do think examples would be nice, but real analysis is not just used in those fields, and it can be very limiting to say "this is what it's for". Analysis is a stepping stone to a lot of other mathematics. Higher level study of probability that's used in mathematical finance requires analysis, for example. I think some of the "real-life usages" in other articles have made those articles worse. Tristanreid 19:20, 16 October 2005 (UTC)

I just wasn't sure if it was proper to state that the Real's are constructed by Cauchy sequences, when the basis for their definition relies on the completeness axiom and concept of supremum and infimum. If there is another approach to defining a Cauchy sequence I appologize.

I would say that the least upper bound property is far and away the most important property of the real numbers, not the properties of the absolute value function as stated in this article.