Cheat Sheet of Mathemtical Notation and Terminology Interval notation

Notation Terminology Explanation and Examples

Logic and Sets
[𝑎, 𝑏] closed interval If 𝑎, 𝑏 ∈ ℝ with 𝑎 ≤ 𝑏 the closed interval is the set {𝑥 ∈ ℝ ∣ 𝑎 ≤ 𝑥 ≤ 𝑏}
Notation Terminology Explanation and Examples Examples:[−3, 5] is the set of real numbers between −3 and 5, including the
𝑎 ∶= 𝑏 defined by The object 𝑎 on the side of the colon is defined by 𝑏. endpoints −3 and 5.
Examples:𝑥 ∶= 5 means that 𝑥 is defined to be 5, or 𝑓 (𝑥) ∶= 𝑥2 − 1 means that (𝑎, 𝑏) open interval If 𝑎, 𝑏 ∈ ℝ with 𝑎 ≤ 𝑏 the open interval is the set {𝑥 ∈ ℝ ∣ 𝑎 < 𝑥 < 𝑏}
the function 𝑓 is defined to be 𝑥2 − 1, or 𝐴 ∶= {1, 5, 7} means that the set 𝐴 is
Examples:(−3, 5) id the set of real numbers between −3 and 5, excluding the
defined to be {1, 5.7}.
endpoints −3 and 5.
𝑆1 ⇒ 𝑆2 implies Logical implication: If statement 𝑆1 is true, then statement 𝑆2 must be true. We
[𝑎, 𝑏) or (𝑎, 𝑏] half open interval If 𝑎, 𝑏 ∈ ℝ with 𝑎 ≤ 𝑏, [𝑎, 𝑏) is the set of all numbers between 𝑎 and 𝑏 with
say 𝑆1 is a sufficient condition for 𝑆2 or 𝑆2 is a necessary condition for 𝑆1 .
𝑎 included and 𝑏 excluded. In case of (𝑎, 𝑏] the endpoint 𝑎 is excluded and 𝑏
2
Examples:(𝑛 ∈ ℕ even) ⇒ (𝑛 even). is included.
𝑆1 ⇔ 𝑆2 equivalent to Logical equivalence: If statement 𝑆1 is true, then statement 𝑆2 must be true, and Examples:[−3, 5) is the set of real numbers between −3 and 5, including −3
vice versa. We say 𝑆2 is a necessary and sufficient condition for 𝑆1 . but excluding 5. For (−3, 5] the endpoint −3 is excluded and 5 is included.
Examples:(ln 𝑥 > 0) ⇔ (𝑥 > 1). [𝑎, ∞) or (−∞, 𝑎] closed half line If 𝑎 ∈ ℝ, then [𝑎, ∞) is the set of real numbers larger than or equal to 𝑎, and
∃ there exists Abbreviation for there exists (−∞, 𝑎] is the set of real numbers less than or equal to 𝑎
(𝑎, ∞) or (−∞, 𝑎) open half line If 𝑎 ∈ ℝ, then (𝑎, ∞) is the set of real numbers strictly larger than 𝑎, and
∀ for all Abbreviation for for all (−∞, 𝑎) is the set of real numbers strictly less than 𝑎
{… } set The “objects” listed between the curly brackets are members of the set being Examples:(0, ∞) set of all positive real numbers; (−∞, 5] set of all real num-
defined. bers less than or equal to 5.
√ { }
Examples:{0, 2, 5, 7}, {2 + 𝑖, 7 − 5}, , ,
The elements of a set can be any kind of objects such as numbers, functions, Functions
points, geometric objects or other.
Notation Terminology Explanation and Examples
𝑎∈𝐴 element of 𝑎 is an element of the set 𝐴, that is, 𝑎 is in the set 𝐴.
{ } 𝑓∶ 𝐴→𝐵 function A function 𝑓 from the set 𝐴 to the set 𝐵 is a rule that assigns every element
Examples:𝜋 ∈ ℝ, 4 ∈ {1, 4, 7}, ∈ , , 𝑥 ∈ 𝐴 a unique element 𝑓 (𝑥) ∈ 𝐵.
∅ or {} empty set The special set that does not contain any element. The set 𝐴 is called the domain and represents all possible (or desirable) “in-
puts”, the set 𝐵 is called the codomain and contains all potential “outputs”.
{𝑥 ∣ property} set of . . . with . . . Notation indicating a set of elements 𝑥 satisfying a certain property.
𝑥 → 𝑓 (𝑥) is mapped to The function maps 𝑥 to the value 𝑓 (𝑥).
Examples:{𝑛 ∈ ℕ ∣ 𝑛 is even}, where 𝑛 ∈ ℕ is the typical element and the
property satisfied is that 𝑛 is even. Examples:𝑔 ∶ ℝ → ℂ, 𝜃 → 𝑔(𝜃) ∶= 𝑒𝑖𝜃 . A function from ℝ to ℂ given by 𝑒𝑖𝜃 ;
{𝑥2 ∣ 𝑥 ∈ ℕ}, where the typical member is a square of some number in ℕ. 𝑓 ∶ ℝ → ℝ, 𝑥 → 𝑓 (𝑥) ∶= 1 + 𝑥2 . A function from ℝ to ℝ given by 1 + 𝑥2 ;
ℎ ∶ ℂ → [0, ∞), 𝑧 → ℎ(𝑧) ∶= |𝑧|. A function from ℂ to [0, ∞) given by |𝑧|.
𝐴⊆𝐵 subset of The set 𝐴 is a subset of 𝐵, that is, every element of 𝐴 is also an element of 𝐵.
More formally: 𝑏 ∈ 𝐵 ⇒ 𝑏 ∈ 𝐴. im(𝑓 ) image or range The set of values 𝑓 ∶ 𝐴 → 𝐵 attains: im(𝑓 ) ∶= {𝑓 (𝑥) ∶ 𝑥 ∈ 𝐴} ⊆ 𝐵.

Examples:ℚ ⊆ ℝ, {1, 4, 7} ⊆ {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7} Examples:𝑓 ∶ ℝ → ℝ, 𝑥 → 𝑓 (𝑥) ∶= 𝑥2 . The codomain is ℝ, the image or

range is [0, ∞).
𝐴∪𝐵 union The set of elements either in 𝐴 or in 𝐵.
More formally: (𝑥 ∈ 𝐴 ∪ 𝐵) ⇔ (𝑥 ∈ 𝐴 or 𝑥 ∈ 𝐵). surjective or onto A function 𝑓 ∶ 𝐴 → 𝐵 is called surjective if im(𝑓 ) = 𝐵, that is, the codomain
coincides with the range.
Examples:{1, 4, 7} ∪ {4, 5, 8} = {1, 4, 5, 7, 8} (elements are not repeated in a More formally: For every 𝑏 ∈ 𝐵 there exists 𝑎 ∈ 𝐴 such that 𝑓 (𝑎) = 𝑏.
union if they appear in both sets!)
Note:𝑓 ∶ 𝐴 → im(𝑓 ) is always surjective. The choice of codomain is quite
Note:We can look at a union of an arbitrary collection of sets: The set of objects arbitrary. We often just state the general objects rather than the image or range.
that appear in at least one of the sets in the collection. For instance function values are in ℝ if we are not intested in the image.
𝐴∩𝐵 intersection The set of elements that are in 𝐴 and in 𝐵. injective or one-to-one A function 𝑓 ∶ 𝐴 → 𝐵 is called injective if im(𝑓 ) = 𝐵, that is, every point in
More formally: (𝑥 ∈ 𝐴 ∩ 𝐵) ⇔ (𝑥 ∈ 𝐴 and 𝑥 ∈ 𝐵). the image comes from exactly one point in the domain 𝐴.
Examples:{1, 4, 7} ∩ {1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7} = {1, 7} More formally: If 𝑎1 , 𝑎2 ∈ 𝐴 are such that 𝑓 (𝑎1 ) = 𝑓 (𝑎2 ), then 𝑎1 = 𝑎2 .
Note:We can look at the intersection of an arbitrary collection of sets: The set of bijective A function 𝑓 ∶ 𝐴 → 𝐵 is called bijective if it is surjective and injective.
objects that appear in every set in the collection. 𝑓 −1 inverse function A function 𝑓 ∶ 𝐴 → 𝐵 is called invertible if it is bijective. The inverse func-
𝐴⧵𝐵 complement The set of elements that are in 𝐴 but not in 𝐵. tion 𝑓 −1 ∶ 𝐵 → 𝐴 is defined as follows: Given 𝑏 ∈ 𝐵 take the unique point
More formally: (𝑥 ∈ 𝐴 ⧵ 𝐵) ⇔ (𝑥 ∈ 𝐴 and 𝑥 ∉ 𝐵). 𝑎 ∈ 𝐴 such that 𝑓 (𝑎) = 𝑏 and set 𝑓 −1 (𝑏) ∶= 𝑎 (by surjectivity such 𝑎 exists,
by injectivity it is unique).
Examples:{1, 4, 5, 7} ⧵ {1, 2, 3, 6, 7} = {4, 5}