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I am a German mathematics student. I have two questions:

First question: When writing several equivalent equations, we usually write this as:

$x^2 = 4$

$\Leftrightarrow x = \pm 2$

I have never seen this in English, i.e. the usage of $\Leftrightarrow$ to indicate equivalence in a sequence of equations. Is it considered bad style? How would you write this?

Second question: In German, we often declare variables within a sentence similar to:

"The output $x$ depends on the time of default $t$ and on the sum $S$ of all payments made prior to $t$."

Is this correct in English? I am not sure whether or not I have seen this before. If not, what would be an alternative formulation?

Thank you very much in advance

Chuks
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Ettlich
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    For your statement 1, this would be acceptable, in English, for lectures or work on a board. In written English, people are encouraged to use fewer symbols; for example, the $\Leftrightarrow$ might be avoided. The first statement might be written as "$x^2=4$ is equivalent to $x\in{-2,2}$." – Michael Burr Jul 17 '15 at 11:02
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    The style of your second statement is common in English mathematics. – Michael Burr Jul 17 '15 at 11:03
  • There is an \iff command in LaTeX, it means "if and only if" (which is equivalence). So the symbol exists and means the same. – mvw Jul 17 '15 at 11:06
  • @mvw: A nicer version is \Leftrightarrow. I never understood why \iff was made so long. – user21820 Jul 17 '15 at 11:13
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    @MichaelBurr: You should transfer your comments into an answer. =) – user21820 Jul 17 '15 at 11:14
  • Some people just write " $x^2=4$ iff $x=\pm 2$ ". – Integral Jul 17 '15 at 15:09

1 Answers1

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Your first statement would be acceptable, in English, for lectures or for work on a board. In written English, people are encouraged to use fewer symbols; for example the $\Leftrightarrow$ might be avoided. Someone might write this statement as "$x^2=4$ is equivalent to $x\in\{-2,2\}$."

Note that there are many alternatives to the phrase "is equivalent to" which would be acceptable, but few are shorter.

The style of your second statement is common in English mathematics.

Note that this is for American English. I'll leave other forms to native speakers in those languages.

Michael Burr
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