IEEE 260.3
American National Standard Mathematical Signs and Symbols for Use in Physical Sciences and Technology
Organization: | IEEE |
Publication Date: | 1 January 1993 |
Status: | active |
Page Count: | 43 |
scope:
ForewordÂ
This Standard is a revision of ANSI Y10.20-1975, the original edition of Mathematical Signs and Symbols for Use in Physical Sciences and Technology. The purpose of this second edition is twofold: to serve as an authoritative national standard for mathematical notation and, as promised in the first edition, to include symbols of those lesser-known branches of mathematics that are increasingly being applied to the physical sciences. Added to this revision are signs and symbols used in Symbolic Logic, Set Theory, Arithmetic, Differential Geometry, Matrices, Probability and Statistics.
The Table of Signs and Symbols has been reorganized and the format modified by insertion of an additional column to exhibit, if appropriate, the application of each sign or symbol, with its meaning in that context, under the Description heading. The former subclause on Trigonometry has been renamed Circular Functions and now includes principal values of the inverse functions. To encourage the use of roman type, rather than italic type, to symbolize specific mathematical functions, the subclause on Special Functions in the original edition now occupies five subclauses; the total number of items being increased from 8 to 54.
Incorporated in this Standard is a revision of ANSI Y10.17-1961 (R 1988), Guide for Selection of Greek Letters Used as Letter Symbols for Engineering Mathematics. Clause 10 of this Standard supersedes ANSI Y10.17-1961 entirely.
Scope
Only signs and symbols used in writing mathematical text are contained in this Standard. Special symbols peculiar to certain branches of mathematics, such as non-Euclidean Geometries, Abstract Algebras, Topology, and Mathematics of Finance, which are not ordinarily applied to the physical sciences and engineering, have been omitted. Because there is no consensus in the literature for signs and symbols used in tensor analysis, the subject of tensors is relegated to future editions when there is general agreement among authorities in the field.
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