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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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What is meant by "a stationary point of a function corresponds to a critical point of its graph for the projection parallel to the x-axis"?

I was reading this - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stationary_point and got stuck comprehending meaning of this sentence. Particularly, I'm having trouble with "projection parallel to the x-axis". I tried reading…
ankit
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Is there a term for this basic effect?

Basic question: is there a term defined for the difference in relation between two equations of the same proportionality? I've noticed this effect but haven't been able to find a word for it. I've always known proportionality to relate both…
ABC DEF
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what is it called if numbers $a$ and $b$ are such that their sum is equal to unity

Question: Is there a way to definitionally describe rational numbers $a$ and $b$ when $a+b=1$? Answer: My guess is that $a$ and $b$ may be defined as `unitary additive complements,' but this is just a guess.
Michael Levy
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Correct term for trivial extension of linear operator on Hilbert spaces

Suppose we are given Hilbert spaces $Z = X \oplus Y$ and $C = A \oplus B$. Let $T : X \rightarrow A$ be a bounded linear operator. We can identify it with the operator $S : Z \rightarrow C$ that maps $(x,y) \in Z$ to $S(x,y) = ( Tx, 0 )$. This is a…
shuhalo
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How to know when an author is using natural log?

I was always taught that "log" is log base ten and "ln" is log base $e$, and there are plenty of sources that use this. But a lot of other sources use "log" as the natural log, and some books I have don't seem to specify which system they use and I…
Vedvart1
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Name for special product of sets

Let $A$ and $B$ be sets. What is this type of product called: $AB = \{ xy \;:\; x \in A,\; y \in B \}$? I found this notation at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infimum_and_supremum in Section 4.1.
xFioraMstr18
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Correct usage of 'Coefficient'

If I have a equation like $f(x) = ax^2 + bx + c$ then $a$ and $b$ can be called the coefficients. Is it correct to refer $x$ as a coefficient as well? e.g. If I have $ax + by + cz$ then can I call all of $a$, $b$, $c$, $x$, $y$ and $z$…
BanksySan
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definition from mathematics translated in english language

guys this question is more specific related to english and math together then math only,i am studying GRE tasks(quantity variant) and want to be acquainted every term and trick related to math problem,for example,let's take this…
dato datuashvili
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How do you say "function with fewer oscillations?"

Say you have a few functions on the same graph that oscillate, but they're not sine functions, they're polynomials. (These are Legendre polynomials) How do you refer to the "curvier" ones without sounding too informal? Is it ok to say "the curves…
bobobobo
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What do you call A of a relation R in AxB?

Given a relation $ R \subseteq A \times B $. from wikipedia: The domain of R is the set of all x such that xRy for at least one y. The range of R is the set of all y such that xRy for at least one x. Hence: $domain \subseteq A, range \subseteq B$ A…
hepe
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Differentiation terminology

In $ \frac{d}{dx}y $, what is the name of the variable being respected in this differentiation? Is there a general term for the variable in $ \frac{d}{dx}y $, $ \frac{d}{dt}v $, and others that can be used to refer to the $ x $ and $ t $? As I…
VortixDev
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What is the correct term for an increasing or decreasing function which "flattens out"?

I'd like to say logarithmically decreasing but it does not have to decrease to zero. An example of an increasing function which flattens out at around 4.5%.
Jacob
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What's the name of a number that cannot be represented with a finite number of digits in a specific base?

I'm writing some code, and I'm trying to succintly explain that $0.1$ has infinitely many repeating decimals in base 2 ($0.0\overline{0011}_2$). How can I succintly explain this to a programmer, in a source code comment, without using $\LaTeX$ or…
Filip Haglund
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Difficulty understanding relation A ⊂ B between events A and B

My lecturer is adamant that the following is true and I'm struggling to get my head around it: "relation A ⊂ B between two events A and B means that the event A occurs whenever event B does, but not necessarily the opposite." My understanding is…
YS731
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What is it called when you have 2 subsets of a set who's elements are based on alternating by a divisor?

I came across this concept when I had to figure out a way to alternate spacing in a program I was writing. I'm curious to know if there's a formal term for this concept. Here's the description. You have a divisor D [in this example it's 15] . You…
Shmuel Kamensky
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