Mathematical Concepts (G6012), 2022 symbolList.

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List of Mathematical Symbols

Number systems
These symbols represent sets of numbers — which is to say collections (in fact, infinitely large
collections) of numbers.
N Natural numbers: 0, 1, 2, 3, . . .
Z Integers . . . , −3, −2, −1, 0, 1, 2, 3, . . .
Q Rational numbers: i.e., numbers of the form ab where a, b ∈ Z and b ∕= 0. Includes all
numbers which can be expressed by a decimal expansion which either terminates or has
an infinite but repeating pattern of digits.
R Real numbers: any number that can be expressed by a decimal expansion (terminating
or non-terminating, repeating or non-repeating). Includes Q and also some well-known
√
numbers like 2, π, e, . . .
C Complex numbers, i.e. numbers of the form a + b i, where a, b ∈ R, where we define
√
i = −1 (so that i2 = −1).

Special numbers:
π the number “pi”: the ratio between the circumference and the diameter π = 3.1415926 . . .
of a circle
e Sometimes called Euler’s number: e = 1 + 11 + 1·2
1 1
+ 1·2·3 + ··· ∈ R e = 2.7182818 . . .
i The imaginary unit. (Note: unless the complex numbers are being used, it i · i = −1
is very common to use i as the name of an integer variable.)

Sketches of the real number system and the complex number system: 2i 1+2i
√
3 1
− +2i i 1+i
√ √ √ 2
−π − 13
5 − 3
1
4
2
3 2 5 e π

−3 −2 − 3 −1 − 1 0 1 1 3 2 3 −2 −1 0 1 2
2 2 2 2
√ −i
1 − 32 i
R − 3−i
−2i

C
Relations on real numbers
< ; ! is less than ; is less than or equal to 2<3 ; 2!3 ; 3!3
> ; " is greater than ; is greater than or equal to 3<2 ; 3"2 ; 2"2

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Numerical operations
± “plus or minus”: one of two expressions — either a ± b means either of a + b, or a − b ;
the addition or subtraction of two quantities ±a means either of a, or −a.
· multiplication 2 · 4 = 8, 2 · a = 2a
/ division 6/2 = 3, a/b = ab
xn (n ∈ N) xn = 1 · x · x · · · x . x0 = 1, x1 = x, x2 = x · x,
! "# $
n times x3 = x · x · x
x−n (n ∈ N) x−n = 1/xn (for x ∕= 0) . x−1 = 1/x, x−2 = 1/x2 , . . . .
√ √ √
x q (q ∈ Q, q ∕= 0) xa/b = the bth root of xa (for x > 0 and a, b ∈ Z), x1/2 = x, x1/3 = 3 x, x3/2 = x3 ,
%
i.e., a number z ∈ R such that z b = xa . x−5/2 = 1/x5 , . . .
n! (n ∈ N) “n factorial”: 0! = 1, and n! = 1 · 2 · · · n 3! = 1 · 2 · 3 , 4! = 1 · 2 · 3 · 4, . . .
& '
n () () () ()
“n choose k”: the total different number of 30 = 1, 31 = 3, 32 = 3, 33 = 1
k ! "
ways to choose k elements from a set of n. n
=
n!
k k!(n − k)!

Basic set definitions

∈ “is an element of”, “is a member of”, “is in” 2 ∈ N, −3 ∈ Z, − 13 ∈ Q, π ∈ R
√
∈
/ “not an element of”, “not a member of”, “not in” −2 ∈/ N, − 13 ∈/ Z, 2∈ /Q
{a, b, . . .} listing of the elements in a set A = {2, 8, π}
{x ∈ S : . . .} the set of all elements of S, which satisfy some {n ∈ N : n < 4} = {0, 1, 2, 3}
given property {x ∈ Z : x2 ! 4} = {−2, −1, 0, 1, 2}
∅ the empty set ∅ = { } = {x ∈ Q : x2 = 2}

Basic set relations and operations

⊂ “is a proper subset of”, “is strictly a subset of”, “is Q ⊂ R, {1, 2, 3} ⊂ N
strictly contained in”
⊆ “is a subset of (or equal to)” / “is contained in” Q ⊆ R, {±n : n ∈ N} ⊆ Z
⊃ “is a proper superset of”, “is strictly a superset R ⊃ Q, N ⊃ {1, 2, 3}
of”, “strictly contains”
⊇ “is a superset of (or equal to)”, “contains” R ⊇ Q, {n ∈ Z : n ≥ 0} ⊇ N
∩ intersection of two sets, i.e. the set that contains {1, 2, 3} ∩ {2, 3, 4} = {2, 3}
the elements that are in both sets {1, 2} ∩ {3, 4} = ∅
∪ union of two sets, i.e. the set that contains all the {1, 2, 3} ∪ {2, 3, 4} = {1, 2, 3, 4}
elements that are in either of the sets

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\ subtraction of sets (“set-minus”) {1, 2, 3} \ {2, 3} = {1}

AC the compliment of a set A (considered as a sub- Considering A = {1, 2, 3} ⊆ N:
set of some fixed set U ) AC = {0, 4, 5, 6, . . .}.
P(A) the power set of set A, i.e. the set of all subsets P({1, 2, 3}) = {∅, {1}, {2}, {3},
of A, including A and the empty set {1, 2}, {1, 3}, {2, 3}, {1, 2, 3}}

Intervals
[a, b] For a, b ∈ R: closed interval from a to b, i.e. all real [1, 2] = {x ∈ R : 1 ≤ x ≤ 2}
numbers between a and b including a and b
(a, b) For a, b ∈ R: open interval from a to b, i.e. all real (1, 2) = {x ∈ R : 1 < x < 2}
numbers between a and b excluding a and b
(a, b] For a, b ∈ R: interval from a to b, i.e. all real num- (1, 2] = {x ∈ R : 1 < x ≤ 2}
bers between a and b excluding a but including b
(−∞, a] For a ∈ R: interval of all real numbers less than (or (−∞, 3] = {x ∈ R : x ≤ 3}
equal to) a
(a, +∞) For a ∈ R: interval of all real numbers strictly (−1, +∞) = {x ∈ R : x > −1}
greater than a

Note. The symbols +∞ (“positive infinity”) and −∞ (“minus infinity”) do not actually represent numbers,
but are used as a short-hand. There are more than one formal way to approach the subject of the infinite
in mathematics, but the ones we will use do not treat ‘infinites’ as actual quantities.

Logic
=⇒ “implies”, “if —— then ——” a − 2 = 0 =⇒ a = 2,
a > 2 =⇒ a > 1
⇐⇒ “is equivalent to”, “if and only if”, a − 2 = 0 ⇐⇒ a = 2,
i.e., the left expression implies the right but a > 2 ⇐⇒ ∕ a>1
expression and vice versa
∧, & “and” x ≤ 1 ∧ x ≥ 1 =⇒ x = 1
∨ “or” x < −1 ∨ x > 1 ⇐⇒ x ∈ / [−1, 1]
∀ “for all” ∀i ∈ N : xi " 0 means:
all xi are greater than or equal to 0
∃ “exists” ∀n ∈ N. ∃m ∈ N : m > n means:
for any n ∈ N, there is m ∈ N which is larger

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Functions, sequences, sums, and products

f :A→B f is a function which maps elements from the f :R→R
domain A to the co-domain B; but we don’t nec-
essarily know anything more about f
x 5→ . . . definition of the action of a function, via a formula f : R → R, x 5→ x3
on the right-hand side
f (x) = . . . alternative definition of the action of a function, f (x) = x3
read “f of x”, x is called the argument of f
(a0 , a1 , a2 , . . .) sequences: functions from {0, 1, 2, . . .} to some an = 12 n(n + 1), xk = 1 − 2−k
(xk )∞k=1 set, or from {1, 2, . . .} to some set
*b 3
*
summation of an expression (which may depend xi = x1 + x2 + x3
k=a on variable k), for integers a ! k ! b. (If there i=1

are no such integers k, the result is an ‘empty sum’,

equal to 0.)
b
+ 3
+
product of an expression which may depend on xi = x1 · x2 · x3
k=a variable k, for integers a ! k ! b. (If there are no i=1

such integers k, the result is an ‘empty product’ equal

to 1.)

Limits, derivatives, and integrals

n
!
1
lim an The limit of a sequence (an )∞
n=1 — i.e., the value lim = 0 ; lim 2−k = 2
n→∞ n→∞ n2 n→∞
(or ±∞) which an gets more and more closely bound k=0
2
x +1
to as n grows large lim = +∞
n→∞ x−1
3x2 + 1 x2 − 1
lim f (x) The limit of an expression f (x) as x → a lim =3 ; lim =2
x→a x→∞ x + 4 x→1 x−1
— i.e., the value (or ±∞) which f (x) gets more and 1
more closely bound to, when we consider values of x
lim = +∞
x→0 x2
which are closer and closer to a

f ′ (x) the derivative of the function f (x) f (x) = x2 =⇒ f ′ (x) = 2x

f (x + ∆x) − f (x)
f ′ (x) = lim
∆x→0 ∆x
d
dx
f (x) alternative notation for the derivative of f (x) d ′ d 2
-dx fx (x) = f (x), dx (x ) = 2x
,x . /x
0
f (t) dt integral of the function f (t), i.e. the area under t2 dt = 13 t3 0 = 13 x3
0
the graph of f (t) from 0 to x

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Probability and statistics

Ω set (space) of elementary events Ω = {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6} for throwing a 6-sided die
ω an elementary event, i.e. an element of ω ∈ Ω
a set of elementary events Ω
P : P(Ω) → [0, 1] a probability measure P ({k}) = 16 for k ∈ {1, . . . , 6} for a fair die
X:Ω→R random variable
E(X) the expectation value of a random vari-
able X
σX standard deviation of a random variable
X
n
1!
x mean of a set of samples {xk }nk=1 x= xk
n
k=1
0
σx estimator of the standard deviation of a σ = 1 1
N
x (xk − x)2
set of samples {xk }nk=1 N −1 k=1

Vectors and Matrices

2! " 3
x1
R n
the set of n-dimensional vectors with en- R = 2
: x1 , x2 ∈ R
x2
tries that are real numbers i.e., real-valued #
2 x % 3
1
arrays of length n, with addition and scalar mul- R =
3 $ x2 & : x1 , x2 , x3 ∈ R
tiplication operations defined on them x3
! "
x1
$x a vector $x ∈ R2 =⇒ $x =
x2
' (
a11 a12 a13
M(m, n) the set of m × n matrices, i.e. matrices with A ∈ M(2, 3) =⇒ A =
a21 a22 a23
m rows and n columns
A $x the matrix-vector product
" # " #
1 0 1 −3
AT transpose of a matrix (or a vector!) — i.e., A = =⇒ AT =
−3 4 0 4
the matrix that is “flipped” across the diagonal
*n
$x · $y , 〈$x, $y 〉 the scalar product (or “dot product”) of two $x · $y = xi yi ,
vectors of the same dimension, i.e., $x T $y for " # " i=1 #
1 2
column vectors $x, $y ∈ Rn · =1·2+2·3=8
2 3
' $
1 0 0
% (
1, I the identity matrix, i.e. the matrix with 1 on 1=& 0 1 0 )
the diagonal and otherwise all 0 entries 0 0 1
A−1 the inverse of a matrix A · A−1 = 1