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The letter ℘: name and origin? (2017)

(mathoverflow.net)
283 points IdealeZahlen | 9 comments | 14 Nov 24 16:28 UTC | HN request time: 0.213s | source | bottom
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wduquette ◴[14 Nov 24 19:06 UTC] No.42139909[source]▶
I left college with a math degree and a profound antipathy for weird cursive symbols. The one that nearly killed me was the Greek "xi". I couldn't pronounce it, and I couldn't write it with any fluency, and in some of the classes I took it was everywhere.
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1. anyfoo ◴[14 Nov 24 20:01 UTC] No.42140531[source]▶
I encounter ξ (xi), and also ζ (zeta) a lot. Honestly, when I write them out by hand, I just make a "wild squiggly line" for ξ and a "simplified squiggly line" for ζ.

If I write it out by hand, it's most likely just for my eyes anyway, and I'd type it out on a computer if I'd want others to have a look at it. But even if I gave someone else my handwritten note, I think from context it would be pretty clear what the "squiggly lines" are supposed to be.

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2. Symbiote ◴[14 Nov 24 22:18 UTC] No.42141801[source]▶
ζ is essentially a cursive z. ξ is near enough to a backwards 3.
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3. andrewshadura ◴[14 Nov 24 22:37 UTC] No.42141938[source]▶
ξ is literally three horizontal bars underneath each other, in cursive.
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4. jacobolus ◴[14 Nov 24 23:09 UTC] No.42142233{3}[source]▶
Indeed. Try to write Ξ sloppily using connected strokes and you'll end up with something vaguely like ξ.
5. thaumasiotes ◴[15 Nov 24 00:59 UTC] No.42142989{3}[source]▶
> ξ is literally three horizontal bars underneath each other, in cursive.

And? So is 3.

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6. hanche ◴[15 Nov 24 09:35 UTC] No.42145294{4}[source]▶
The unstated point is to explain the connection between lowercase ξ and uppercase Ξ.
7. wduquette ◴[15 Nov 24 19:12 UTC] No.42149893[source]▶
When I was an undergraduate typing it out on a computer wasn’t an option, not with the hardware available at my school. It was handwritten, or nothing.
8. asyx ◴[16 Nov 24 21:10 UTC] No.42159364[source]▶
You guys do know that Greek speakers write those by hand all the time, right? It’s really not that difficult…
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9. anyfoo ◴[19 Nov 24 22:25 UTC] No.42188762[source]▶
"All the time", yeah. Relatively to that, I have to write individual greek characters very rarely, as they are not part of my usual script. Almost never, compared to a greek person.

The same applies to the scripts used by e.g. Chinese, Arabian, and Korean speakers.

So naturally I am not a "fluent" writer of ξ and ζ, and since I virtually always write those characters in isolation instead of as part of words, it's a different mode of practice even when I do use them.

It's the same on the keyboard, by the way. My keyboard does not have ξ or ζ keys, it's all special.