BROWSE
ALPHABETICALLY
LEVEL:
Elementary
Advanced
Both
INCLUDE TOPICS:
Basic Math
Algebra
Analysis
Biography
Calculus
Comp Sci
Discrete
Economics
Foundations
Geometry
Graph Thry
History
Number Thry
Phys Sci
Statistics
Topology
Trigonometry
|
|
integer – least upper bound
integer
An element of the set Z consisting of the natural numbers, zero, and the additive inverses (negatives) of the natural numbers. I.e., Z = { ... -3, -2, -1, 0, 1, 2, 3, ... }. The use of Z to denote the set of integers stems from the German word zahlen, which means “to count.”
 Cf. natural number.
Related MiniText: Number -- What Is How Many?
intersection
The intersection of two sets A and B is the set of those elements common to both A and B, and is denoted by
Thus, an element x belongs to the intersection only if it is an element of A and also an element of B. If the intersection is taken over a family of sets {Ai}i = 1, 2, ... n, then it is the set of those elements that are in every set in the family, denoted
Sometimes one speaks of the interesection over a (single) set A, and this indicates the set of elements that are in every element of A:
When considering an algebra of sets, the intersection of two or more sets is sometimes called the meet of the sets.
Cf. union.
interval
The set of all real numbers lying between two given real numbers a and b. If both a and b are included in the set it is called a closed interval. If neither a nor b is included it is called an open interval. If only one of a or b is included the interval is called half-open (equivalently, half-closed). Intervals may be denoted using either interval notation or set notation, as follows:
Although intervals are most commonly intervals on the real line, the definition carries over without modification to any totally ordered set.
interval graph
An intersection graph of a finite family of intervals on the real line.
inverse function
If f is an injective (i.e., one-to-one) function, then f is said to be invertible, and its inverse is the function g satisfying g(f(x)) = f(g(x)) = x for every x in the domain of f.
inverse image
Given a function f and a subset Y of the range of f, the inverse image (under f) of Y is the set of all x such that f(x) is in Y.
inverse statement
Given a conditional statement, i.e., a statement of the form “if A then B,” or “A implies B,” its inverse is “not A implies not B.” A conditional neither implies nor is implied by its inverse. However, the converse of a conditional and its inverse are logically equivalent, since they are contrapositives of each other.
irrational number
A real number which is not a rational number, i.e., which cannot be expressed as a ratio of integers. Examples: p (the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter) and the square root of 2 (ratio of the length of the diagonal of a square to the length of one side). The irrational numbers are uncountably infinite.
Related article: Irrationality of the Square Root of 2
Related MiniText: Number -- What Is How Many?
irreflexive
See reflexive relation.
isomorphism
A morphism that is both injective and surjective, that is, both “one-to-one” and “onto.” An isomorphism from a structure to itself is called an automorphism.
isotone function
A function that is order preserving and increasing.
join
A binary operation whose value on two elements a and b of a lattice is the least upper bound of a and b, denoted a  b.
Cf. meet.
join irreducible
An element a of a lattice is called join irreducible if whenever a = b c then a = b or a = c. More generally, a is called strictly join irreducible if whenever a is the join of a subset X of the lattice, then a is an element of X.
Cf. join prime, meet irreducible, meet prime.
join-morphism
A function f on a lattice L is called a join-morphism if for every a and b in L we have f(a b) = f(a) f(b). If f has an inverse that is also a join-morphism, then f is called a join-isomorphism. A join-isomorphism from a lattice to itself is called a join-automorphism.
Cf. join, meet-morphism.
join prime
An element a of a lattice is called join prime if whenever a  b c then a b or a c. Also, a is called strictly join prime if
Cf. join irreducible, meet prime, meet irreducible.
König’s Lemma
If a is an infinite cardinal and the cofinality of a is not greater than b, then ab is strictly greater than a.
Latin
ARTICLE
Many Latin terms and phrases are used in mathematical writing. See the article for a full exposition.
lattice
A partially ordered set in which each pair of elements has a least upper bound, called the join, and a greatest lower bound, called the meet. The join of two elements x and y is denoted by x y, and the meet by x  y.
A lattice may be equivalently defined as a set with an algebra having two binary operations (meet) and (join) defined on it, satisfying- x x = x = x x, and
- x (x y) = x = x (x y)
A lattice is called complete if every subset of the lattice has a least upper bound and a greatest lower bound.
laws of exponents
The following rules govern the behavior of exponents:
Additionally, x0 = 1 for all x except 0, and 00 = 0 or is left undefined (i.e., it is an indeterminate form).
Cf. rational exponent.
laws of logarithms
The following rules governing the behavior of logarithms are easily derived, and very useful in calculations:- log A + log B = log (A×B)
- log A – log B = log (A/B)
- log Ap = p × log A
Students often confuse these rules, so it is worth memorizing them as “the sum of the logs is the log of the product – and not the product of the logs,” etc.
least upper bound
An upper bound which is less than or equal to every other upper bound.
Cf. greatest lower bound.
|
|
 
|