4 ms·

They don't "love" greek letters, you simply run out of letters. And you can't use words since that could be easily mistaken for a product between single variabl

They don't "love" greek letters, you simply run out of letters. And you can't use words since that could be easily mistaken for a product between single variables. Once you learn them, things start getting way, way easier

cm2187 9y ago
That would be the case if all the other letters in the alphabet were used in the equation. This is rarely the case. In fact more often than not, all letters of the greek alphabet are used.
- aqsalose 9y ago
  By custom, Greek letters usually mean different things than letters of Latin alphabet. And also it's customary that certain letters in Latin alphabet are used for specific things. For example, Latin letter 'x' usually means a variable of interest / data point. Latin letter 'a' could be instead a constant or variable that is thought to be fixed for the time being. If you want more unknown variables in addition to 'x', you can use y, z, maybe w, but if you want more than that you are out of letters and are often better off with super/subscripting (if it makes sense in the context), because a, b, c, d would be interpreted as constants. Especially in statistics/ML x is reserved as symbol for the independent variable and y is reserved as symbol for the dependent variable; z, w are common for latent variables. f,g,h are common shorthands for functions. i,j are double-booked as an "arbitrary index symbol" or imaginary units. k,m,n are also constants, and often reserved specifically as constants that denote the dimensionality or sequence lengths (m times n matrix, sums x_1 + ... + x_n, sequences (x_1, ..., x_n), etc). (k can be also be an index in addition to i and j.) o is easily confused with 0 or a circle that is usually a function composition sign (I usually see the letter o only in the CS small-o-notation context, rendered in fancy typeface). p,q,k are again constants or sometimes alternative indices in complicated sums where i and j are not enough, but from p to v you have relatively underused letters. However, they are not totally "free" either: s and t and r and l are again common symbols for scalar variables like length or time or rotation; in statistics, p often is reserved for probabilities (conditional probability of x given m is p(x|m) etc). In linear algebra u and v can be arbitrary vectors, or unit vectors, or in complex analysis they are real / imaginary parts of a complex valued function. Upper case letters are reserved for matrices and operations or (especially consonants like K or C) sometimes again constants. In other fields things might go differently, but the general gist is that I do often feel like the alphabet is not enough. Most often Greek letters get quite much use when you need symbols for angles or rotations (for example, Fourier transformation pairs) or as (hyper)parameters of probability distributions.

cm2187 9y ago

That would be the case if all the other letters in the alphabet were used in the equation. This is rarely the case. In fact more often than not, all letters of the greek alphabet are used.

aqsalose 9y ago
By custom, Greek letters usually mean different things than letters of Latin alphabet. And also it's customary that certain letters in Latin alphabet are used for specific things. For example, Latin letter 'x' usually means a variable of interest / data point. Latin letter 'a' could be instead a constant or variable that is thought to be fixed for the time being. If you want more unknown variables in addition to 'x', you can use y, z, maybe w, but if you want more than that you are out of letters and are often better off with super/subscripting (if it makes sense in the context), because a, b, c, d would be interpreted as constants. Especially in statistics/ML x is reserved as symbol for the independent variable and y is reserved as symbol for the dependent variable; z, w are common for latent variables. f,g,h are common shorthands for functions. i,j are double-booked as an "arbitrary index symbol" or imaginary units. k,m,n are also constants, and often reserved specifically as constants that denote the dimensionality or sequence lengths (m times n matrix, sums x_1 + ... + x_n, sequences (x_1, ..., x_n), etc). (k can be also be an index in addition to i and j.) o is easily confused with 0 or a circle that is usually a function composition sign (I usually see the letter o only in the CS small-o-notation context, rendered in fancy typeface). p,q,k are again constants or sometimes alternative indices in complicated sums where i and j are not enough, but from p to v you have relatively underused letters. However, they are not totally "free" either: s and t and r and l are again common symbols for scalar variables like length or time or rotation; in statistics, p often is reserved for probabilities (conditional probability of x given m is p(x|m) etc). In linear algebra u and v can be arbitrary vectors, or unit vectors, or in complex analysis they are real / imaginary parts of a complex valued function. Upper case letters are reserved for matrices and operations or (especially consonants like K or C) sometimes again constants. In other fields things might go differently, but the general gist is that I do often feel like the alphabet is not enough. Most often Greek letters get quite much use when you need symbols for angles or rotations (for example, Fourier transformation pairs) or as (hyper)parameters of probability distributions.