Can any one tell me the word used to describe the occurance of a series of the same number in a date such as
9/9/99?

perhaps. . .repetition?

Sorry, no, but welcome aBoard.

I think the mathematical term is iteration.

I'm open to correction from the more mathematically inclined, but isn't iteration repetition of a process rather than the same number occurring in different places in nested sequences?

Bingley

There is a term for this occurance. It was given to my sister-in-law by her doctor when her due date was 7-7-77.
unfortunately, the man had died and we are curious. Hope some one can come up with it

You're correct, Bingley, and I used iteration as an extension of that definition. Maybe the occurrence of like items should be called jackpot like they call it in Las Vegas!

I should note that the spell-checker offers "Bingo" for Bingley and "lascivious" for Las Vegas.

michaelo

Well, I suppose lascivious is about right for Las Vegas, going by its reputation, and I did work as a bingo caller for part of my mis-spent youth, so perhaps the spellcheck knows more than we are aware of.

Bingley

>Can any one tell me the word used to describe the occurance of a series of the same number in a date such as
9/9/99?

In the absolutely fascinating book, "The Man Who Loved Only Numbers", by Paul Hoffman, there is a reference on page 206 to a mathematical concept called the repunit, short for repeating unit. I know this is probably not the word for which you are looking, but it does appear to be a technically correct answer to your question.

The book, by the way, is about an extrememly eccentric mathematician named Paul Erdos. The o in his name has a mark over it that looks like a double quote mark. I had been only vaguely aware of Erdos, and after reading the book I came away with that feeling you get when you run across true genius.

teD,

I think we've almost got it...

repdigit - A number composed of a single digit is called a repdigit. If the digits are all 1s, the repdigit is called a repunit. The beast number 666 is a repdigit.

(technically then, 1,11,111... are repunits in decimal; 1,9,73... in octal (when converted to decimal); 1,3,7... in binary (again, converted); etc.)

this still doesn't quite cover the 9/9/99 form.

In reply to:

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(technically then, 1,11,111... are repunits in decimal; 1,9,73... in octal (when converted to decimal); 1,3,7... in binary (again, converted); etc.)

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Shouldn't that be when converted to octal ? 1, 9, 73 are already in decimal.



Bingley

that's what I meant...

of course, they all look likes strings of 1s (units) when represented in their respective bases!
-ron obvious