Technical definition

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A technical definition is a definition in technical communication describing or explaining technical terminology. Technical definitions are used to introduce the vocabulary which makes communication in a particular field succinct and unambiguous. For example, the iliac crest from medical terminology is the top ridge of the hip bone (see ).

Contents

Types of technical definitions

There are three main types of technical definitions. [1] [ definition needed ]

  1. Power definitions
  2. Secondary definitions
  3. Extended definitions

Examples

Aniline, a benzene ring with an amine group, is a versatile chemical used in many organic syntheses.

The genus Helogale (dwarf mongooses) contains two species.

Sentence definitions

These definitions generally appear in three different places: within the text, in margin notes, or in a glossary. Regardless of position in the document, most sentence definitions follow the basic form of term, category, and distinguishing features.

Examples

A major scale is a diatonic scale which has the semitone interval pattern 2-2-1-2-2-2-1.

In mathematics, an abelian group is a group which is commutative.

Extended definitions

When a term needs to be explained in great detail and precision, an extended definition is used. They can range in size from a few sentences to many pages. Shorter ones are usually found in the text, and lengthy definitions are placed in a glossary. Relatively complex concepts in mathematics require extended definitions in which mathematical objects are declared (e.g., let x be a real number...) and then restricted by conditions (often signaled by the phrase such that). These conditions often employ the universal and/or existential quantifiers (for all (), there exists ()).

Note: In mathematical definitions, convention dictates the use of the word if between the term to be defined and the definition; however, definitions should be interpreted as though if and only if were used in place of if.

Examples

Definition of the limit of a single variable function:

Let be a real-valued function of a real variable and , , and be real numbers. We say that thelimitofasapproachesis (or, tends toasapproaches) and write if, for all , there exists such that whenever satisfies , the inequality holds.

Related Research Articles

In mathematics, an associative algebraA over a commutative ring K is a ring A together with a ring homomorphism from K into the center of A. This is thus an algebraic structure with an addition, a multiplication, and a scalar multiplication. The addition and multiplication operations together give A the structure of a ring; the addition and scalar multiplication operations together give A the structure of a module or vector space over K. In this article we will also use the term K-algebra to mean an associative algebra over K. A standard first example of a K-algebra is a ring of square matrices over a commutative ring K, with the usual matrix multiplication.

In category theory, a branch of mathematics, a natural transformation provides a way of transforming one functor into another while respecting the internal structure of the categories involved. Hence, a natural transformation can be considered to be a "morphism of functors". Informally, the notion of a natural transformation states that a particular map between functors can be done consistently over an entire category.

In mathematics, rings are algebraic structures that generalize fields: multiplication need not be commutative and multiplicative inverses need not exist. Informally, a ring is a set equipped with two binary operations satisfying properties analogous to those of addition and multiplication of integers. Ring elements may be numbers such as integers or complex numbers, but they may also be non-numerical objects such as polynomials, square matrices, functions, and power series.

In mathematics, specifically category theory, adjunction is a relationship that two functors may exhibit, intuitively corresponding to a weak form of equivalence between two related categories. Two functors that stand in this relationship are known as adjoint functors, one being the left adjoint and the other the right adjoint. Pairs of adjoint functors are ubiquitous in mathematics and often arise from constructions of "optimal solutions" to certain problems, such as the construction of a free group on a set in algebra, or the construction of the Stone–Čech compactification of a topological space in topology.

In category theory, an epimorphism is a morphism f : XY that is right-cancellative in the sense that, for all objects Z and all morphisms g1, g2: YZ,

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Homological algebra</span> Branch of mathematics

Homological algebra is the branch of mathematics that studies homology in a general algebraic setting. It is a relatively young discipline, whose origins can be traced to investigations in combinatorial topology and abstract algebra at the end of the 19th century, chiefly by Henri Poincaré and David Hilbert.

In abstract algebra, a branch of mathematics, an Archimedean group is a linearly ordered group for which the Archimedean property holds: every two positive group elements are bounded by integer multiples of each other. The set R of real numbers together with the operation of addition and the usual ordering relation between pairs of numbers is an Archimedean group. By a result of Otto Hölder, every Archimedean group is isomorphic to a subgroup of this group. The name "Archimedean" comes from Otto Stolz, who named the Archimedean property after its appearance in the works of Archimedes.

In mathematics, the limit of a function is a fundamental concept in calculus and analysis concerning the behavior of that function near a particular input which may or may not be in the domain of the function.

In mathematics, coalgebras or cogebras are structures that are dual to unital associative algebras. The axioms of unital associative algebras can be formulated in terms of commutative diagrams. Turning all arrows around, one obtains the axioms of coalgebras. Every coalgebra, by duality, gives rise to an algebra, but not in general the other way. In finite dimensions, this duality goes in both directions.

In mathematics, a bialgebra over a field K is a vector space over K which is both a unital associative algebra and a counital coassociative coalgebra. The algebraic and coalgebraic structures are made compatible with a few more axioms. Specifically, the comultiplication and the counit are both unital algebra homomorphisms, or equivalently, the multiplication and the unit of the algebra both are coalgebra morphisms.

In mathematics, a Hopf algebra, named after Heinz Hopf, is a structure that is simultaneously an algebra and a coalgebra, with these structures' compatibility making it a bialgebra, and that moreover is equipped with an antihomomorphism satisfying a certain property. The representation theory of a Hopf algebra is particularly nice, since the existence of compatible comultiplication, counit, and antipode allows for the construction of tensor products of representations, trivial representations, and dual representations.

In algebra, a group ring is a free module and at the same time a ring, constructed in a natural way from any given ring and any given group. As a free module, its ring of scalars is the given ring, and its basis is the set of elements of the given group. As a ring, its addition law is that of the free module and its multiplication extends "by linearity" the given group law on the basis. Less formally, a group ring is a generalization of a given group, by attaching to each element of the group a "weighting factor" from a given ring.

In mathematics, the tensor algebra of a vector space V, denoted T(V) or T(V), is the algebra of tensors on V (of any rank) with multiplication being the tensor product. It is the free algebra on V, in the sense of being left adjoint to the forgetful functor from algebras to vector spaces: it is the "most general" algebra containing V, in the sense of the corresponding universal property (see below).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oscillation (mathematics)</span> Amount of variation between extrema

In mathematics, the oscillation of a function or a sequence is a number that quantifies how much that sequence or function varies between its extreme values as it approaches infinity or a point. As is the case with limits, there are several definitions that put the intuitive concept into a form suitable for a mathematical treatment: oscillation of a sequence of real numbers, oscillation of a real-valued function at a point, and oscillation of a function on an interval.

In mathematics, nonstandard calculus is the modern application of infinitesimals, in the sense of nonstandard analysis, to infinitesimal calculus. It provides a rigorous justification for some arguments in calculus that were previously considered merely heuristic.

In mathematics, a graded Lie algebra is a Lie algebra endowed with a gradation which is compatible with the Lie bracket. In other words, a graded Lie algebra is a Lie algebra which is also a nonassociative graded algebra under the bracket operation. A choice of Cartan decomposition endows any semisimple Lie algebra with the structure of a graded Lie algebra. Any parabolic Lie algebra is also a graded Lie algebra.

In mathematics, Hochschild homology (and cohomology) is a homology theory for associative algebras over rings. There is also a theory for Hochschild homology of certain functors. Hochschild cohomology was introduced by Gerhard Hochschild (1945) for algebras over a field, and extended to algebras over more general rings by Henri Cartan and Samuel Eilenberg (1956).

In mathematics, a limit is the value that a function approaches as the input approaches some value. Limits are essential to calculus and mathematical analysis, and are used to define continuity, derivatives, and integrals.

In mathematics, in the theory of Hopf algebras, a Hopf algebroid is a generalisation of weak Hopf algebras, certain skew Hopf algebras and commutative Hopf k-algebroids. If k is a field, a commutative k-algebroid is a cogroupoid object in the category of k-algebras; the category of such is hence dual to the category of groupoid k-schemes. This commutative version has been used in 1970-s in algebraic geometry and stable homotopy theory. The generalization of Hopf algebroids and its main part of the structure, associative bialgebroids, to the noncommutative base algebra was introduced by J.-H. Lu in 1996 as a result on work on groupoids in Poisson geometry. They may be loosely thought of as Hopf algebras over a noncommutative base ring, where weak Hopf algebras become Hopf algebras over a separable algebra. It is a theorem that a Hopf algebroid satisfying a finite projectivity condition over a separable algebra is a weak Hopf algebra, and conversely a weak Hopf algebra H is a Hopf algebroid over its separable subalgebra HL. The antipode axioms have been changed by G. Böhm and K. Szlachányi in 2004 for tensor categorical reasons and to accommodate examples associated to depth two Frobenius algebra extensions.

In mathematics, the infinity Laplace operator is a 2nd-order partial differential operator, commonly abbreviated . It is alternately defined by

References

  1. Johnson-Sheehan, R: Technical Communication Today, pages 507-522. Pearson Longman, 2007