Mathematics Stack Exchange
Mathematics Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [terminology]

Questions on the usage and meaning of words in mathematics, the names for mathematical entities, and other such questions.

Terminology is a discipline that studies, among other things, the development of terms and their interrelationships. This tag is intended to be used for questions on the usage and meaning of words in mathematics, the names for mathematical entities, and other such questions.

8534 questions
3
votes
2 answers

Terminology: The difference between $X$'s convention

I am reading the paper, Classification in Networked Data: A Toolkit and a Univariate Case Study. And I have a question about the terminology of this paper, on page 938: Also, see the following equation, on page 947: Here we have, $\mathbf{X}$…
Sait
  • 299
3
votes
3 answers

Is there a name for a set together with a unary operation?

Is there a name for a set together with a unary operation? If so, where can I learn more about them? Is there anything interesting about them? Are they simply a special case of groups? It simply occurred to me and Googling around has failed me.
Juan Pablo Santos
  • 193
3
votes
4 answers

How should the term "stronger" be used? Example: groups stronger than semigroups or semigroups stronger than groups?

Everyone is well-known that every group is a semigroup. Then I should say that "group is stronger than semigroup" or "semigroup is stronger than group". Someone told me that stronger means more general. But, I think that "group is stronger than…
alpha
  • 71
3
votes
1 answer

What is isobaric function?

I'm reading My Numbers, My Friends by Paulo Ribenboim and I've encountered this: Thus $U_n = f_n(P,Q)$, where $f_n(X,Y) \in \mathbb{Z}[X, Y]$. The function $f_n$ is isobaric of weight $n-1$, where $X$ has weight 1 and $Y$ has weight 2. The topic…
wvxvw
  • 1,011
3
votes
3 answers

What is the element produced under a generic binary operation called?

For instance, for addition this is called the sum: $\underbrace{x+y}_{\text{summands}} = \underbrace{z}_{\text{sum}}$ But what is this called for a unspecified operation? $\underbrace{x\circ y}_{\text{operands}} = \underbrace{z}_{\text{what is the…
Frank Vel
  • 5,339
3
votes
1 answer

Is this a bound variable?

If I write $\left \{\begin{array}{llll} & y = z \\ & z = x + 2 \end{array} \right.$ could I make the argument that $z$ is a "bound" variable. I've seen it referred to as a "dummy" variable. Is it bound by the $\{$. Thanks.
user73063
  • 103
3
votes
2 answers

What does non-zero integer mean?

The definition for the Rational Number is given as Numbers that can be expressed as a fraction of an integer and a non-zero integer. at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_types_of_numbers#cite_note-1 What does non-zero integer mean?
Talespin_Kit
  • 183
2
votes
2 answers

Is there another term for “complete closure”?

I want to describe a function $f$ which, on set $S$, satisfies these properties: $$ \forall x\in S.f\ x\in S \\ \forall y\in S.\exists x\in S.f\ x=y $$ One example is the successor function upon $\mathbb Z$, and one non-example is the successor…
mudri
  • 271
2
votes
1 answer

In a set, what is the term to describe the number of unique values divided by the total number of values?

The closest word I can think of would be "uniqueness" although I know there is a more specific mathematical term. Say we have a set/table of data with two columns that describes cars. One column is VIN and the other is color. VIN …
Will
  • 21
2
votes
2 answers

What is the difference of an n-tuple and a permutation of n elements

My understanding of n-tuple and a permutation of n elements is, that both are ordered sequences of n elements. Are there differences in the objects correlating to these two terms ? I guess it would be nice if any help could be coded in language…
pidoretroma
  • 23
  • 3
2
votes
1 answer

What is the name of $a \mapsto b$?

$f: A \to B$ is called a mapping, where $A$ and $B$ are two sets. What is $a \mapsto b$, where $a \in A$ and $b \in B$, called then? Thanks. Note that $a↦b$ is not a function/mapping, since $a$ and $b$ are not sets. Note that $a↦b$ is not…
Tim
  • 47,382
2
votes
1 answer

Terminology: Delta vs... absolute?

Delta is the change in a value. Using the term "delta" on the one hand, how, on the other hand, would you refer to the base value from which the given delta is derived? Is there a more precise term than "base value", or "value"? (It also occured to…
Engineer
  • 119
2
votes
1 answer

"The operation is normal iff it's both monotone and continuous" -- which math area studies operation?

I just read Enderton's "Elements of Set Theory" to have a basic understanding of sets (btw it's a great book). One line of it says: "the operation is normal iff it's both monotone and continuous." I'm wondering, the terms, normal, monotone,…
athos
  • 5,177
2
votes
2 answers

polynomial of $x$?

I want to refer to functions of the form $f(x) = \sum_{i=1}^n a_i x^{\alpha_i}$ where $\alpha_i < 1$. This is not a polynomial, because $\alpha_i$ could be just real arbitrary numbers (though positive ones). Is there a name for this class of…
normvector
  • 713
2
votes
2 answers

What is the term for a group of graphs?

I know the term for a group of trees is a "forest", but what is the term for a group of graphs? The difference between a graph and a tree is that a tree can have no cycles, and usually has a node specified as the "root".
Tyler Durden
  • 954
1 2 3
…
49 50