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The Dictionary of Classical and Theoretical Mathematics, one volume of the Comprehensive
Dictionary of Mathematics, includes entries from the fields of geometry, logic, number theory,
set theory, and topology. The authors who contributed their work to this volume are professional
mathematicians, active in both teaching and research.
The goal in writing this dictionary has been to define each term rigorously, not to author a
large and comprehensive survey text in mathematics. Though it has remained our purpose to make
each definition self-contained, some definitions unavoidably depend on others, and a modicum of
“definition chasing” is necessitated. We hope this is minimal.
The authors have attempted to extend the scope of this dictionary to the fringes of commonly
accepted higher mathematics. Surely, some readers will regard an excluded term as being mistakenly
overlooked, and an included term as one “not quite yet cooked” by years of use by a broad
mathematical community. Such differences in taste cannot be circumnavigated, even by our wellintentioned
and diligent authors. Mathematics is a living and breathing entity, changing daily, so a
list of included terms may be regarded only as a snapshot in time.
We thank the authors who spent countless hours composing original definitions. In particular, the
help of Dr. Steve Benson, Dr. William Harris, and Dr. Tamara Hummel was key in organizing the
collection of terms. Our hope is that this dictionary becomes a valuable source for students, teachers,
researchers, and professionals.
Dictionary of Mathematics, includes entries from the fields of geometry, logic, number theory,
set theory, and topology. The authors who contributed their work to this volume are professional
mathematicians, active in both teaching and research.
The goal in writing this dictionary has been to define each term rigorously, not to author a
large and comprehensive survey text in mathematics. Though it has remained our purpose to make
each definition self-contained, some definitions unavoidably depend on others, and a modicum of
“definition chasing” is necessitated. We hope this is minimal.
The authors have attempted to extend the scope of this dictionary to the fringes of commonly
accepted higher mathematics. Surely, some readers will regard an excluded term as being mistakenly
overlooked, and an included term as one “not quite yet cooked” by years of use by a broad
mathematical community. Such differences in taste cannot be circumnavigated, even by our wellintentioned
and diligent authors. Mathematics is a living and breathing entity, changing daily, so a
list of included terms may be regarded only as a snapshot in time.
We thank the authors who spent countless hours composing original definitions. In particular, the
help of Dr. Steve Benson, Dr. William Harris, and Dr. Tamara Hummel was key in organizing the
collection of terms. Our hope is that this dictionary becomes a valuable source for students, teachers,
researchers, and professionals.