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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.

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Term to describe the two ways of labeling the vertices of a tetrahedron.

I can label the vertices of a tetrahedron in two different ways as are depicted in the following picture. How to differentiate the two? Is there a term or a mathematical statement? I suspect that it is "chirality" but I'm not sure. In this context,…
Frenzy Li
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Parameter, variable, and argument

I asked a question on English.stackexchange.com but they told me that my question was not about English, and it was rather about math. So, I decided to ask it here :( They closed my thread, so please do not close it here too (I beg you), or at least…
Rakanoth
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Matrices as Functions

A friend of mine was criticized in undergrad by a Professor for saying that a matrix is a function. Now, a matrix can be represented by a linear transformation, and linear transformations by definition are functions. Is there any theoretical reason…
user90275
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how do you call a function that breaks down on y?

How do you call a (linear) function (or the point), which breaks down to 0 on ordinate (axis y), as soon as you breach a certain x1 value?
feder
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Does $A\to 2^{A}$ have a name?

For a set $A$, do $A\to 2^{A}$ or its elements have canonical names? I know the term "set-valued", but I want to express specifically that the same set appears on both sides. I'd also be interested in domain specific terminology, e.g., when $A$ is a…
Bananach
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Terminology to measure the ratio of the maximum value to the minimum value of a real-valued function?

Let $f:\mathbb{R}\rightarrow \mathbb{R}$. Let $f_{\mathrm{max}}=\max_{x\in \mathbb R} f(x)$ and $f_{\mathrm{min}}=\min_{x\in \mathbb R} f(x)$. Define $r$ as the ratio of $f_{\mathrm{max}}$ to $f_{\mathrm{min}}$. Intuitively, $r$ measures the…
Mengfan Ma
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What is the difference between commutatitivity and distributivity?

Inspired by linearity property, I see that operator A distributes over sum: $A(\sum {f_i}) = \sum {(A(f_i))}\;\,$. What do I have between A and ∑: commutativity or distributivity? The fact that I can switch the order, $A\sum = \sum A$, implies…
Val
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"The lattice" or "a lattice"?

Matrices are morphisms of a category having natural numbers as objects. We can consider a lattice of matrices of a given order $n\times m$ (for example component-wise). My question is about English language usage: Can we say: the lattice of matrices…
porton
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Does the term (1 - x) have a meaningful name in mathematics

Once in a while I need to implement more or less complex math formulas in various programming languages. To ensure that some time later I'm still able to read and understand my code, I strive to give my variables meaningful names. Sometimes, the…
ackh
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Is there a single word to describe that a probability is less than 1 = 1/1 = 100%?

I have been describing the probabilities that are greater than 0 as non-zero (using the fact that they cannot ever be negative) or positive, e.g., "non-zero probability" or "positive probability." I want to describe the probabilities less than 1 in…
Utkan Gezer
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Are there names for math problems where inputs are rendered vertically vs. horizontally?

I could set up a simple math problem in multiple ways. If I wanted to add $2$ and $3$, for instance, I could write: $2 + 3 =$ __ Or I could write:   $2$ $+3$ Are there words to denote these different renderings?
bdb484
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What does "Holding $f$ and $x$ fixed" mean, for instance, with $\frac{1}{2h}\left[f(x+h)-f(x-h)\right]$?

Reading on Richardson Extrapolation, in my textbook. The authors state that Holding $f$ and $x$ fixed we define a function of $h$ by the formula $$\phi(h) = \frac{1}{2h}\left[f(x+h)-f(x-h)\right]$$ I'm unsure what it means to be "Holding" a…
Nicko Cruz M
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Why isn't area the same as surface area?

Doesn't a 2D shape have a surface? In that case, is it incorrect to call the area of it surface area?
tyuo9980
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Why "abelian" is written frequently with a lower case initial letter while "Euclidean" exclusively with capital?

Why "abelian" is written frequently with a lower case initial letter while "Euclidean" exclusively with capital? Look at the difference between this and that
mma
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What is the study of equations called when we are only interested in whole number solutions?

I'm trying to learn more about this such as methods for finding solutions, what it's useful for, etc. but I am not sure what it is called to be searching for to begin with. What is it called when we have an equation typically with division or powers…
Michael
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