I came across this notation in the CAA module 0 sample questions. See photo:
It looks like it means lower bound but not sure. Can’t find any info. on google either. Anyone come across this notation before in this context? If so, what does it mean?
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2This look like the floor function typically denoted by $\lfloor x\rfloor$ (but can also be denoted by $[x]$) which provides the greatest integer less than or equal to $x$. – Peter Foreman Jun 17 '20 at 18:33
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2$x=[x]+{x}$ where $[x]$ is the integer part of $x$ and ${x}$ is the fractional part of $x$, e.g. 3.14 = 3 + 0.14. – pshmath0 Jun 17 '20 at 18:34
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1Does this answer your question? what does this symbol mean: [] but without the top bars? – Martin R Jun 17 '20 at 18:38
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2That question is asking about $\lfloor x\rfloor$, whereas this is about $[x]$ – J. W. Tanner Jun 17 '20 at 18:40
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https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/2395264/what-is-this-notation-fx-x-the-greatest-integer-less-than-or-equal-to-x – Martin R Jun 17 '20 at 18:44
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@PeterForeman isn’t it an abuse of notation to use a pair of grouping symbols as a function? If that is allowed, and you see those symbols in a problem, then how do you know if you are looking at a floor function or simply a grouping arrangement? I would think only “$\lfloor$ $\rfloor$” would be allowed to represent the floor function, not “[ ]”. – Radial Arm Saw Jun 17 '20 at 23:53
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It looks like the greatest integer (also known as floor) function.
It can also be denoted as $\lfloor 5.9\rfloor$.
J. W. Tanner
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