|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
upright Greek letters for constants as opposed to variables
Some journals require upright Greek letters for constants as opposed to
variables, for example $\upi$ when used to denote 3.14159... as opposed to a variable ($\pi$ is sometimes used to denote parallax in astronomy, for instance). (Some journals define \upi as "upright pi", \upi as "upright i", and so on.) I certainly agree that LABELS should be upright (though they are usually Latin not Greek) and not italic to distinguish them from variables, e.g. $T_{mathrm{eff}}$ for effective temperature or $\rho_{textrm{g}}$ for gas density, say, as opposed to $G_{\mu\nu}$ where $\mu$ and $\nu$ are not constants but variables. And it is not just Greek letters. For example, e for the Euler number or i for the square root of -1 should also not be in math italic, to distinguish them from variables. I tend to agree with that as well. Also, units should be upright, e.g. 5 m and not $5m$ for 5 metres. On the other hand, I have never seen the gravitational constant $G$, which is even by definition a constant and not a variable, written upright. Ditto for the Hubble constant $H$ and so on. Or is there a difference between mathematical constants and physical constants? Perhaps because standard (La)TeX provides Greek letters only in math italic, upright Greek letters are less common than upright Latin letters, even when used in the same way (labels, units, symbols which are not variables). When writing for a specific journal, one usually has to follow the house style. However, if there is no rule, I prefer to do what is generally deemed to be correct. What is generally deemed to be correct here? |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
pre 2006 catalogued FASTT candidate variables in Nicholson's"uncatalogued" red variables' paper | newvariables | Amateur Astronomy | 2 | July 4th 09 09:41 PM |
Greek letters. | Tom McDonald | Astronomy Misc | 0 | May 27th 06 02:15 AM |
Greek letters. | Tom McDonald | Amateur Astronomy | 0 | May 27th 06 02:15 AM |
Shifting Constants? | Double-A | Misc | 9 | January 14th 06 05:17 PM |
Upright image in reflector | Ducky | Amateur Astronomy | 6 | August 3rd 05 06:33 AM |