how to read these greek symbols?

Question

I work as a software engineer, but I don't have a maths background. I have long been interested in refreshing anything after/including pre-algebra. Often times I am reading papers and these have all these formulas I can't decipher. I think the bigger issue is that I don't even know how to ask the question. Essentially, I want to go from 'can't read' to 'can read and understand the maths being used (even if the problem domain may still not be clear)' - where should I start?

Thanks for all the comments and answers. I can't reply/upvote directly because I joined this site straight away, but I'll reply to some questions/statements below:

One example of a formula (apologies, I can't seem to copy it off the pdf and paste here) page 28 http://www.cse.wustl.edu/~jain/cse567-06/ftp/k_24its.pdf

I am familiar with some of the symbols, for example, the greek E that means (performs?) sum. I understand some set's notation. Sometimes the difficulty lies also in understanding the precedence order and how to transform it into something more readable, so I can follow it along.

I think in general, I was hoping that there would be some area in mathematics that focused on the learning and practice of maths by means of expressing yourself using these symbols, but it seems a bit clearer now that that's not the case and it's probably all scattered around the place ? (confirmation would be appreciated)

I'm not sure I understand your question, specifically which are the greek sybols you are trying to understand? — la flaca, Sep 27 '16 at 23:40
If you have no idea about how to decipher the symbols (say a product symbol, or some group-theory notation, tensor-notation etc.), then your problem most likely is that you don't have the required math background, and that is what you need to fix. — Bobson Dugnutt, Sep 27 '16 at 23:44
You can do what my professor did and call them all "gammar"... THis can't really have a pat answer as different symbols will me different things. You have to learn each one on a case by case basis. — fleablood, Sep 27 '16 at 23:47
IF you have the time, take a math class. A software engineer shouldn't have much difficulty in picking up math. — imranfat, Sep 28 '16 at 00:05
Some are used more often than others for specific purposes, like the capital Sigma ($\Sigma$) for sums, the capital Pi ($\Pi$) for products, epsilon ($\epsilon$) for small quantities, and so on. It sounds like you want the math going on around the symbols though, and that's too broad a question since the Greek alphabet gets roped in as and when needed from mathematical field to field, and in doing so these symbols change their meaning. You'd soon pick it up being able to code though. — Daniel Buck, Sep 28 '16 at 00:31
(1) Schaum's Outline of Mathematical Handbook of Formulas and Tables, (2) Mathematics Handbook for Science and Engineering, (3) Handbook of Mathematics — Ng Chung Tak, Sep 28 '16 at 17:03
@NgChungTak Now that is what I call good practical advice! — fleablood, Sep 28 '16 at 19:28

Ethan Bolker · Accepted Answer · 2016-09-27T23:50:25.307

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Sometimes Greek letters are just variables, perhaps with conventions for what they mean, like $\nu$ for a frequency. Sometimes they have a special meaning: $\pi$, of course, and $\Sigma$ for sums.

You could ask particular questions here and learn bit by bit - show us a formula from a paper you're reading, with some of the context, and ask for an explanation of the parts you don't understand.

(Please learn enough mathjax to format the mathematics correctly.)

edited Sep 27 '16 at 23:50

answered Sep 27 '16 at 23:44

Ethan Bolker

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The sad thing is whether the symbol have a specific meaning or are variable is an intuition one has to develop. Consider the following meaningless statement $\chi_{\alpha \in \sigma}\rho(p_{\alpha}^{\beta_{\alpha}}) = \omicron(\sigma)$. How would you intuitively know $\alpha, \beta$ are variables but the others aren't? I'm not sure I can answer that except ...."well, it looks that way" – fleablood Sep 27 '16 at 23:53
@fleablood Of course with that statement you couldn't. But asking about a short equation from a paper the OP's reading, with some surrounding text and his head start on the problem might get him a useful answer. The pure math part might be straightforward (but not yet for him). Someone here might know something about the context. Let's see if he tries. – Ethan Bolker Sep 28 '16 at 00:05
Oh, I agree. But it's easy to dismiss this question "oh, you just don't know the math; when you know the math it will all make sense" whereas I think there is a legitimate concern developing intuition. Obviously $\sigma (a_n)$ means something specific but equally obviously $p^{\beta}$ does not. It's not as obvious as it seems if you don't know it. Unfortunately I don't have any idea how to advise anyone how to develop this intuition. – fleablood Sep 28 '16 at 00:38

how to read these greek symbols?

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