Mathematics Stack Exchange
Mathematics Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [notation]

Questions on the meaning, history, and usage of mathematical symbols and notation. Please remember to mention where (book, paper, webpage, etc.) you encountered any mathematical notation you are asking about.

Before asking a question on the site, please check if you can find your answer in Earliest Uses of Various Mathematical Symbols or the book A History of Mathematical Notations.

Alternatively, a textbook or paper usually takes the time to explain the notation they're using; please remember to mention where you've seen the notation you are asking about.

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Notation: Vector contains an element equal to 0

I have a vector $v \in \mathbb{R}^n$ and I am searching for a mathematical notation for a function that returns $1$ if at least one of the vector's elements is $0$ and $0$ otherwise. The analogue function for a set $S$ would be: $$ f =…
Sleik
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What does limit notation with an underline or an overline mean?

I've never seen this notation before, and I'm having trouble finding a reference through search. Could someone explain what these notations mean for me? In context, the statement they're in is the following: a bounded $f$ is Riemann integrable…
Ben Lerner
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Formal symbol for the integer division operation

The integer division is a common and useful operation in Computer Science. It comes up in many domains, as in the manipulation of matrices and grids. Is there any formal symbol for this operation? Or at least a widely recognisable symbol that can be…
Luís de Sousa
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Notation for sequences

I am trying to write a small article, and I just want to know how would be a good way to present the maths I have written so that it looks professional. I am trying to define a sequence $x_n$ of real numbers. So what I wrote in my article is: Let…
Gary
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Where can I learn about mathematical notation?

I often see mathematical notation on Wikipedia articles (e.g. Finding the matrix of a transformation). Where is a good resource for learning what the different symbols mean?
Mark Ingram
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what does z subscript something mean

Decide a positive integer $N \in\mathbb Z$. Generate a uniformly distributed random positive integer sequence: $$v_1, v_2, \ldots,v_n\in\mathbb Z_N$$ My question is, what does $\mathbb Z_N$ really mean here? Does it mean something like the set of…
user1736473
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About Math notation: the set of the first $n$ natural numbers

Is it true that I can write the set of the the first $n$ natural numbers as $[ n] $? For example, $[10]= \{1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10 \}$. And in which math context this is used?
user24047
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Notation for "A does not imply B"

I'm looking for a way to express A being true does not imply B. I know that A implies B can be written as $A \rightarrow B$, but what about A does not imply B? $A \not\rightarrow B$?
gerrit
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Should the notation $\int_{0}^{x} f(x) dx$ be frowned upon?

In old mathematics books, I see a lot of notations like $\int_{0}^{x} f(x) dx$. For example, Courant-Hilbert: Methods of mathematical physics. However, when I wrote it in this site, it was sometimes edited like $\int_{0}^{x} f(t) dt$.
Makoto Kato
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What does this joke mean?

I saw this written on a blackboard in the math department building the other day: Gas Law: $PV=nRT$ Ideal Gas Law: $(P)(V)=(n)(R)(T)$ I know the ideal gas law is something from chemistry, but I'm assuming this is meant to be some sort of joke…
Carmeister
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Is there a mathematical operator to truncate negative values to zero?

Is there a mathematical symbol that truncates a value x to 0 if it is negative, and leaves it untouched otherwise? Something which is logically equivalent to $\max(x, 0)$?
lindelof
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Is there any symbol for "undefined"?

For example we have $\frac{0}{0}$ which is undefined or we have a multiplication of $2\times2$ and $3\times3$ matrices which is also undefined. Is there any symbol for representing it?
user211859
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How would you count a base $> 36$ system?

When I am counting in a base greater than ten, I can use the letters of the alphabet. What do I use when I run out of those? What comes after $z$?: $0, 1, 2, 3,\ldots, 9, a, b, c, d,\ldots, x, y, z$ (?) And how would I find it?
Questionmark
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Does "V contains S" have two different meanings?

Talking in terms of sets, I would take the above to mean $S \in V$. But my course's notes says Let $S$ be a subset of a vector space $V$, the span of $S$, denoted $Span(S)$ is the smallest subspace of $V$ that contains $S$. Which confuses me,…
cb7
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How to do \mathbf in handwriting?

I have a bunch of vectors and matrices that are written using \mathbf, eg $\mathbf{w}$ and $\mathbf{W}$. What are standard ways of writing these in hand-writing? I know this is not exactly a maths question, but I'm not sure where else to ask it…
Hugh Perkins
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