mathematics

List of people by Erdős number

List of people by Erdős number is a mathematics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand List of people by Erdős number rather than just read about it. In short: Paul Erdős (1913–1996) was a Hungarian mathematician. He considered mathematics to be a social activity and often collaborated on his papers, having 511 joint authors, many of whom also have their own collaborators.

Key takeaways

List of people by Erdős number belongs to mathematics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect List of people by Erdős number to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of List of people by Erdős number from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Paul Erdős (1913–1996) was a Hungarian mathematician. He considered mathematics to be a social activity and often collaborated on his papers, having 511 joint authors, many of whom also have their own collaborators. The Erdős number measures the "collaborative distance" between an author and Erdős. Thus, his direct co-authors have Erdős number one, theirs have number two, and so forth. Erdős himself has Erdős number zero. There are more than 12,500 people with an Erdős number of two. This is a partial list of authors with an Erdős number of three or less, including only those who have existing Wikipedia articles. For more complete listings of Erdős numbers, see the databases maintained by the Erdős Number Project or the collaboration distance calculators maintained by the American Mathematical Society and by zbMATH.

Zero Paul Erdős

One

Two

Three

See also Mathematics Genealogy Project Six degrees of separation

References

External links Erdős Number Project list of all people with Erdős number 1 list of all people with Erdős number 2 Distance calculator from MathSciNet Distance calculator from zbMATH

Illustrations

List of people by Erdős number: Erdős in 1992 — Erdős in 1992

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with List of people by Erdős number

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what List of people by Erdős number claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In mathematics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to List of people by Erdős number before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about List of people by Erdős number ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of List of people by Erdős number

In research: List of people by Erdős number appears in mathematics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses List of people by Erdős number in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: List of people by Erdős number is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Lists of mathematicians, Lists of scholars and academics, Paul Erdős, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for List of people by Erdős number outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “List of people by Erdős number” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study List of people by Erdős number in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what List of people by Erdős number means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain List of people by Erdős number out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is List of people by Erdős number in simple terms?

Why does List of people by Erdős number matter?

Because it connects several mathematics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study List of people by Erdős number?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on List of people by Erdős number.