46
votes
The origin(s) of the word "elliptic"
Your saying "elliptic functions are the functions on elliptic curves over $\mathbb C$" is somewhat misleading, I think. First came elliptic integrals measuring arc-length on an ellipse. These are ...
- 47.4k
36
votes
Accepted
Etymology of "exterior" in "exterior calculus"
I think it's well known to have been introduced by Grassmann. He explains the word choice in Die lineale Ausdehnungslehre (1844, pp. x-xi):
I have shown how one can understand as product of two ...
- 31.5k
30
votes
The origin(s) of the word "elliptic"
The origin of all these uses is very different. Joe Silverman explained the genesis of the sequence ellipse $\rightarrow$ elliptic integral $\rightarrow$ elliptic function $\rightarrow$ elliptic curve....
- 91.8k
21
votes
What is so 'coloured' on Chromatic Homotopy Theory
This term is surely due to Doug Ravenel. In the mid 1970's, he and collaborators Steve Wilson and Haynes Miller constructed and exploited a "chromatic spectral sequence" for computing Ext ...
- 11.1k
13
votes
Accepted
Why is the thing dual to a "meridian" called a "longitude"?
There is a fundamental asymmetry between latitude and longitude on a sphere, whereas on a torus, there is a symmetry between the two generators. This symmetry could motivate the use of nearly ...
- 82.7k
13
votes
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Etymology of 'spectrum' in algebraic geometry and algebraic topology
No, they are not etymologically related. The early development of stable homotopy theory happened simultaneously with the early developments of scheme theory, so certainly neither terminology was ...
- 40.2k
12
votes
The origin(s) of the word "elliptic"
As to why the conic section got called ellipse, the introductory chapter of Toomer, Diocles, On Burning Mirrors is interesting. He does not give a conclusive answer, but here's an excerpt, p. 7:
...
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12
votes
What is so 'coloured' on Chromatic Homotopy Theory
The metaphor is very apt musically, and quite precise at $p=2$, where the $2^3$ - periodicity (or `diapason') defines the classical octave in which pitches reproduce themselves. Perhaps this is a ...
- 121
11
votes
Accepted
Why the name O for category O?
From [Humphreys: Representations of semisimple Lie algebras in the BGG category O], notes for Chapter 1:
The letter chosen to label the category is the first letter of a
Russian word meaning “...
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8
votes
The origin(s) of the word "elliptic"
This may not be "etymological", but may perhaps shed some light on the relationship between E/P/H things in mathematics:
A. Rastegar, EPH-classifications in Geometry, Algebra, Analysis and ...
- 23.3k
6
votes
What is so 'coloured' on Chromatic Homotopy Theory
After introducing chromatic filtrations on stable homotopy groups in his orange book (p. 24), Ravenel writes
We use the word ‘chromatic’ here for the following reason. The
$n$-th subquotients in the ...
- 435
6
votes
Accepted
What is the reason behind the name 3n-display?
I have not found a source where Thomas Zink explains the name, however arXiv:1906.00899 explains it as an abbreviation of “not-necessarily-nilpotent” (or $3n$-) displays. See also Travaux de Zink, ...
- 188k
5
votes
The origin(s) of the word "elliptic"
The origins of all of the companion terms parabola, hyperbola, and ellipse were coined by Apollonius of Perga, in his classic text "On Conic Sections." (He was born about 262 BC, approximately 25 ...
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4
votes
What is the origin of the term magma?
Wikipedia also says that "magma" is used by Serre in his book Lie algebras and lie groups: 1964 Lectures given at Harvard University. This seems to be the case (at least for the 1992 Springer reprint ...
- 27.2k
3
votes
Accepted
Why are they called ‘pernicious’ numbers?
Let $t\,(n)$ be the digit sum of the binary representation of $n$. Then Google will tell you that $n$ is called odious if $t\,(n)$ is odd and evil if $t\,(n)$ is even. Thus every number is either ...
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