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Most of the time (at least at my high school student level), we are using variables such as a, b or $\theta$, and functions such as f, g etc...

But would it be possible to use multiple characters ? For example to use triple(x) = 3x instead of f(x) = 2x ?
In my opinion it would enable some things to be much more clear in many situations, here is another example : $$area = width \times height$$ Instead of $a = w \times h$, where you would need to go back in the text to find wha a, w and h are for.

Pop Flamingo
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2 Answers2

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Of course it is possible, and it is done. Some examples: $\log x$, $\sin x$ and the trigonometric functions, $\text{div}$ (divergence operator), $\text{grad}$ (gradient, also $\nabla$), $\det A$ (determinant).

The use of a single character is a matter of economy. You can use whatever notation you like, as long as you explain it if it is not standard.

Julián Aguirre
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  • I did thought to log, sin etc... functions, but I thought that maybe it was possible only with those sort of "standard" functions... (by standard I mean the ones that you don't write yourself). Thank you ! :) – Pop Flamingo Dec 22 '14 at 10:37
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It is done all the time in computing. It is a major help when reading someone else's program.
We also use subscripts - rather than ($x,y,z$), we might write $(x_1, x_2, x_3)$; then refer to any one of them as $x_i$

Empy2
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