abstractmath.org
GLOSSARY
Under is used to name the function or relation
just referred to in the sentence. The
reference may be indirect or implicit.
¨ "The set of integers is a group
under addition."
¨ "If x is related to y under the relation E,
we write x E y."
¨ "Let F and G be functions defined on the real numbers. If the value of x under F is
greater than the value of x under
G for every x, then we say that F > G."
This can be translated as: “If for every x,
then we say that F > G.”
It is my impression that some mathematicians use “under” in this way a
lot, but most mathematicians don’t use it at all. This needs more lexicographical research than
what I did for the Handbook.
¨ To say that an object satisfying certain conditions is unique
means that there is only one object satisfying those conditions. For example, there is a unique even prime, namely the
integer 2.
¨ The Handbook, page
259, discusses the philosophical confusion connected with questions such as “Is
there a unique set of integers”.
Mathematicians normally talk as if there is a unique set, but when
pressed by foundations questions may say things like “Well, there are many
copies but let’s assume we have picked a particular one.”
¨ The word
"unique" is misused by students; this is discussed here. See also up to.
¨ A unit in a ring may mean either the identity element of the ring, or an invertible element of the ring. However, “ring with unit” means ring with identity element.
¨ Unit element or unity most likely means an identity element. This requires lexicographical research.
One or more variables may occur in a constraint, and the intent
of the discourse may be to determine the values of the variables that satisfy
the constraint. In that case the variables may be referred to as unknowns.
¨ Find the values of x for . Answer: .
¨ Find the values of x for which . Answer: .
In both these problems x would be called an unknown.
A typical definition
in mathematics may make use of a number of previously defined concepts. To unpack
or unwind such
a definition is to replace the defined terms with explicit, spelled-out
requirements. See translation problem and rewrite using definitions.
Similarly a function may be defined by a complicated
formula. To unpack such a formula means
investigating it piece by piece, or chunk by chunk. Zooming and Chunking has an
example, and Equivalence Relations
has another one.
Let E be an equivalence
relation. To say that a definition or description of a type of mathematical
object determines the object up to E (or modulo E) means that any two objects satisfying the description are
equivalent with respect to E.
¨ An indefinite integral is determined up to a constant. In this case the equivalence relation is that of differing by a constant.
¨
The statement "G is a finite group of order
n containing an element of order n"
forces G to be the cyclic group of order n, so that the statement defines G up to isomorphism.