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
1
vote
0 answers

Name of the numeric sets defined by the number of digits in a whole number

Is there a name for each set of whole (or the number before the decimal) numbers by their digit count? I know place value has names: ones, tens, hundreds, etc, but what do you call the sets { 0 ... 9 }, { 10 ... 99 }, { 100 ... 999 }, etc?
Luis E. Fraguada
  • 111
1
vote
1 answer

Formal definition of "dependent variable"

There are similar questions here and here asking about a "formal definition of a variable", but the "dependent" makes this unique. If you search the web for "dependent variable" you get hit with things saying, "In the case $y=f(x)$, $y$ is the…
ThatsRightJack
  • 821
1
vote
2 answers

Name of function that changes $\mathbb{R}$

Is there a specific function that takes the real number line $\mathbb{R}$ and converts it into a helix?
guego
  • 11
1
vote
1 answer

Meaning of "possible" in Set theory?

I'm not English native and I found these sentences in my math-textbook written in English Let P denote the set of possible plaintexts. Let K denote the set of possible keys. Let C denote the set of ciphertexts. But... what is the meaning of…
marinemorine
  • 113
  • 3
1
vote
1 answer

Are exponents unary operations?

I was looking at the list of "unary operators" on https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unary_operation, and I found that it does not include exponents, e.g., $4^2$. Are exponents not considered unary operators because technically something like $4^2 = 4 *…
student010101
  • 661
1
vote
1 answer

What is it called when we treat operators as numbers?

There is some sense in which the derivative of a function $\frac{df}{dx}$ can be written as a "product" $Df$. And while solving, treat $D$ as a "number". What is this process called, if it even has a name?
Sofviic
  • 33
1
vote
1 answer

Why do you we say a is congruent to b mod n and not equal?

When talking about modulos why is that we use congruency and not equality? From the accepted answer in the post What is the difference between congruency and equality? It states that: ... two figures are equal if they have the same…
Mandelbrotter
  • 121
1
vote
1 answer

Equation of a graph VS formula of a graph

Simple question: Why do refer to the equation of a straight line instead of the formula of a straight line? For instance, formulae provide relationships between multiple variables, which is what something like $y=mx+c$ does. Equations, on the…
PhysicsMathsLove
  • 3,142
  • 1
  • 21
  • 39
1
vote
0 answers

Is there a term for using different numerical bases on either side of a decimal point?

I'm reading through a baseball box score, and it dawned on me that this seems to be essentially what's going on in describing pitching appearances. For those who are unfamiliar with this, it's common to specify how long a pitcher remained in the…
Kurt Weber
  • 11
1
vote
2 answers

What is the meaning of the 'or' in a axiom or a definition?

'A or B' means one or the other or both. So I think $\{x | x = u$ or $ x = v\}$ can be equal to $\{u\}$ or $\{v\}$ or $\{u, v\}$. Similary, I think $\{x | x\in a $ or $ x\in b\}$ can be equal to any subset of $a \cup b$ except empty set. But…
op ol
  • 465
  • 2
  • 7
1
vote
1 answer

Reshape operator

I am reshaping matrices into a single vector. This is the function that I am using. Is there a conventional symbol for this operation (latex command)?
aiao
  • 291
1
vote
0 answers

Meaning of "natural operator or a natural quadratic form"

I'm reading these lecture notes and I am confused about the use of the phrase "natural operator" and "natural quadratic" on page three. While the adjacency matrix is the most natural matrix to associate with a graph, I also find it the least…
Union Boss
  • 21
1
vote
1 answer

Are there equivalent terms of injection and surjection about domain (not codomain)?

I think the terms "injection" and "surjection" are related to the codomain of a function, because when one say "this function is injective/surjective", it constrains the image of the funtion not to overlap/leave some elements in the codomain…
yuhr
  • 13
1
vote
0 answers

How is the word "indefinite" or "indefinitely" used in Mathematics? eg, "the terms in the sequence repeat indefinitely"

Let's start with the Cambridge Dictionary definitions of the words, indefinite and indefinitely: indefinite: not exact, not clear, or without clear limits indefinitely: for a period of time with no fixed end; for an unlimited or unknown amount of…
William
  • 4,893
1
vote
2 answers

Terminology for an element of a partition?

Suppose I'm dividing some region $\Theta \in \mathbb{R}^n$ into subregions $\theta_i, i=1,2,3$ such that $\theta_i \cap \theta_j = \varnothing, i\ne j$ and $\bigcup_i \theta_i = \Theta$. I might say (perhaps loosely, even technically incorrectly)…
synaptik
  • 311
1 2 3
…
49 50