Is there a ternary operator in math
$begingroup$
Is there a math equivalent of the programming ternary operator?
a = b + c > 0 ? 1 : 2
The above meaning that if c is greater than 0 then a = b + 1 else a = b + 2.
computer-science
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Is there a math equivalent of the programming ternary operator?
a = b + c > 0 ? 1 : 2
The above meaning that if c is greater than 0 then a = b + 1 else a = b + 2.
computer-science
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
It probably depends on the form of the conditions and the results, but the example you gave can be expressed with the unit step $u(x)$ (with an appropriate definition at $x=1$): $a = u(b+c) + 1$
$endgroup$
– Alex
48 mins ago
$begingroup$
@Alex $a = b + 2 - u(c)$
$endgroup$
– eyeballfrog
31 mins ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Is there a math equivalent of the programming ternary operator?
a = b + c > 0 ? 1 : 2
The above meaning that if c is greater than 0 then a = b + 1 else a = b + 2.
computer-science
$endgroup$
Is there a math equivalent of the programming ternary operator?
a = b + c > 0 ? 1 : 2
The above meaning that if c is greater than 0 then a = b + 1 else a = b + 2.
computer-science
computer-science
asked 53 mins ago
dataphiledataphile
365
365
$begingroup$
It probably depends on the form of the conditions and the results, but the example you gave can be expressed with the unit step $u(x)$ (with an appropriate definition at $x=1$): $a = u(b+c) + 1$
$endgroup$
– Alex
48 mins ago
$begingroup$
@Alex $a = b + 2 - u(c)$
$endgroup$
– eyeballfrog
31 mins ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
It probably depends on the form of the conditions and the results, but the example you gave can be expressed with the unit step $u(x)$ (with an appropriate definition at $x=1$): $a = u(b+c) + 1$
$endgroup$
– Alex
48 mins ago
$begingroup$
@Alex $a = b + 2 - u(c)$
$endgroup$
– eyeballfrog
31 mins ago
$begingroup$
It probably depends on the form of the conditions and the results, but the example you gave can be expressed with the unit step $u(x)$ (with an appropriate definition at $x=1$): $a = u(b+c) + 1$
$endgroup$
– Alex
48 mins ago
$begingroup$
It probably depends on the form of the conditions and the results, but the example you gave can be expressed with the unit step $u(x)$ (with an appropriate definition at $x=1$): $a = u(b+c) + 1$
$endgroup$
– Alex
48 mins ago
$begingroup$
@Alex $a = b + 2 - u(c)$
$endgroup$
– eyeballfrog
31 mins ago
$begingroup$
@Alex $a = b + 2 - u(c)$
$endgroup$
– eyeballfrog
31 mins ago
add a comment |
3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
$begingroup$
Using the indicator function notation:$$a=b+1+1_{(-infty, 0]}(c)$$
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
Indicator is definitely the way to go, since the conditional can define an arbitrary set.
$endgroup$
– eyeballfrog
29 mins ago
$begingroup$
Thank you, that is very elegant. I will definitely try out all of the answers as I often use this in various scenarios.
$endgroup$
– dataphile
24 mins ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
In math, equations are written in piecewise form by having a curly brace enclose multiple lines; each one with a condition excepting the last which has "otherwise".
There are a few custom operators that also occasionally make an appearance. E.g. the Heavyside function mentioned by Alex, the Dirac function, and the cyclical operator $delta_{ijk}$ - all of which can be used to emulate conditional behaviour.
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
This is not a ternary operator, it is a function of two variables. There is one operation that results in $a$. You can certainly define a function
$$f(b,c)=begin {cases} b+1&c gt 0\
b+2 & c le 0 end {cases}$$
You can also define functions with any number of inputs you want, so you can define $f(a,b,c)=a(b+c^2)$, for example. This is a ternary function.
$endgroup$
add a comment |
Your Answer
StackExchange.ifUsing("editor", function () {
return StackExchange.using("mathjaxEditing", function () {
StackExchange.MarkdownEditor.creationCallbacks.add(function (editor, postfix) {
StackExchange.mathjaxEditing.prepareWmdForMathJax(editor, postfix, [["$", "$"], ["\\(","\\)"]]);
});
});
}, "mathjax-editing");
StackExchange.ready(function() {
var channelOptions = {
tags: "".split(" "),
id: "69"
};
initTagRenderer("".split(" "), "".split(" "), channelOptions);
StackExchange.using("externalEditor", function() {
// Have to fire editor after snippets, if snippets enabled
if (StackExchange.settings.snippets.snippetsEnabled) {
StackExchange.using("snippets", function() {
createEditor();
});
}
else {
createEditor();
}
});
function createEditor() {
StackExchange.prepareEditor({
heartbeatType: 'answer',
autoActivateHeartbeat: false,
convertImagesToLinks: true,
noModals: true,
showLowRepImageUploadWarning: true,
reputationToPostImages: 10,
bindNavPrevention: true,
postfix: "",
imageUploader: {
brandingHtml: "Powered by u003ca class="icon-imgur-white" href="https://imgur.com/"u003eu003c/au003e",
contentPolicyHtml: "User contributions licensed under u003ca href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/"u003ecc by-sa 3.0 with attribution requiredu003c/au003e u003ca href="https://stackoverflow.com/legal/content-policy"u003e(content policy)u003c/au003e",
allowUrls: true
},
noCode: true, onDemand: true,
discardSelector: ".discard-answer"
,immediatelyShowMarkdownHelp:true
});
}
});
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fmath.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f3135798%2fis-there-a-ternary-operator-in-math%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
3 Answers
3
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
$begingroup$
Using the indicator function notation:$$a=b+1+1_{(-infty, 0]}(c)$$
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
Indicator is definitely the way to go, since the conditional can define an arbitrary set.
$endgroup$
– eyeballfrog
29 mins ago
$begingroup$
Thank you, that is very elegant. I will definitely try out all of the answers as I often use this in various scenarios.
$endgroup$
– dataphile
24 mins ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Using the indicator function notation:$$a=b+1+1_{(-infty, 0]}(c)$$
$endgroup$
$begingroup$
Indicator is definitely the way to go, since the conditional can define an arbitrary set.
$endgroup$
– eyeballfrog
29 mins ago
$begingroup$
Thank you, that is very elegant. I will definitely try out all of the answers as I often use this in various scenarios.
$endgroup$
– dataphile
24 mins ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Using the indicator function notation:$$a=b+1+1_{(-infty, 0]}(c)$$
$endgroup$
Using the indicator function notation:$$a=b+1+1_{(-infty, 0]}(c)$$
answered 42 mins ago
Siong Thye GohSiong Thye Goh
102k1466118
102k1466118
$begingroup$
Indicator is definitely the way to go, since the conditional can define an arbitrary set.
$endgroup$
– eyeballfrog
29 mins ago
$begingroup$
Thank you, that is very elegant. I will definitely try out all of the answers as I often use this in various scenarios.
$endgroup$
– dataphile
24 mins ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Indicator is definitely the way to go, since the conditional can define an arbitrary set.
$endgroup$
– eyeballfrog
29 mins ago
$begingroup$
Thank you, that is very elegant. I will definitely try out all of the answers as I often use this in various scenarios.
$endgroup$
– dataphile
24 mins ago
$begingroup$
Indicator is definitely the way to go, since the conditional can define an arbitrary set.
$endgroup$
– eyeballfrog
29 mins ago
$begingroup$
Indicator is definitely the way to go, since the conditional can define an arbitrary set.
$endgroup$
– eyeballfrog
29 mins ago
$begingroup$
Thank you, that is very elegant. I will definitely try out all of the answers as I often use this in various scenarios.
$endgroup$
– dataphile
24 mins ago
$begingroup$
Thank you, that is very elegant. I will definitely try out all of the answers as I often use this in various scenarios.
$endgroup$
– dataphile
24 mins ago
add a comment |
$begingroup$
In math, equations are written in piecewise form by having a curly brace enclose multiple lines; each one with a condition excepting the last which has "otherwise".
There are a few custom operators that also occasionally make an appearance. E.g. the Heavyside function mentioned by Alex, the Dirac function, and the cyclical operator $delta_{ijk}$ - all of which can be used to emulate conditional behaviour.
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
In math, equations are written in piecewise form by having a curly brace enclose multiple lines; each one with a condition excepting the last which has "otherwise".
There are a few custom operators that also occasionally make an appearance. E.g. the Heavyside function mentioned by Alex, the Dirac function, and the cyclical operator $delta_{ijk}$ - all of which can be used to emulate conditional behaviour.
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
In math, equations are written in piecewise form by having a curly brace enclose multiple lines; each one with a condition excepting the last which has "otherwise".
There are a few custom operators that also occasionally make an appearance. E.g. the Heavyside function mentioned by Alex, the Dirac function, and the cyclical operator $delta_{ijk}$ - all of which can be used to emulate conditional behaviour.
$endgroup$
In math, equations are written in piecewise form by having a curly brace enclose multiple lines; each one with a condition excepting the last which has "otherwise".
There are a few custom operators that also occasionally make an appearance. E.g. the Heavyside function mentioned by Alex, the Dirac function, and the cyclical operator $delta_{ijk}$ - all of which can be used to emulate conditional behaviour.
answered 41 mins ago
Paul ChildsPaul Childs
3147
3147
add a comment |
add a comment |
$begingroup$
This is not a ternary operator, it is a function of two variables. There is one operation that results in $a$. You can certainly define a function
$$f(b,c)=begin {cases} b+1&c gt 0\
b+2 & c le 0 end {cases}$$
You can also define functions with any number of inputs you want, so you can define $f(a,b,c)=a(b+c^2)$, for example. This is a ternary function.
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
This is not a ternary operator, it is a function of two variables. There is one operation that results in $a$. You can certainly define a function
$$f(b,c)=begin {cases} b+1&c gt 0\
b+2 & c le 0 end {cases}$$
You can also define functions with any number of inputs you want, so you can define $f(a,b,c)=a(b+c^2)$, for example. This is a ternary function.
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
This is not a ternary operator, it is a function of two variables. There is one operation that results in $a$. You can certainly define a function
$$f(b,c)=begin {cases} b+1&c gt 0\
b+2 & c le 0 end {cases}$$
You can also define functions with any number of inputs you want, so you can define $f(a,b,c)=a(b+c^2)$, for example. This is a ternary function.
$endgroup$
This is not a ternary operator, it is a function of two variables. There is one operation that results in $a$. You can certainly define a function
$$f(b,c)=begin {cases} b+1&c gt 0\
b+2 & c le 0 end {cases}$$
You can also define functions with any number of inputs you want, so you can define $f(a,b,c)=a(b+c^2)$, for example. This is a ternary function.
answered 35 mins ago
Ross MillikanRoss Millikan
298k23198371
298k23198371
add a comment |
add a comment |
Thanks for contributing an answer to Mathematics Stack Exchange!
- Please be sure to answer the question. Provide details and share your research!
But avoid …
- Asking for help, clarification, or responding to other answers.
- Making statements based on opinion; back them up with references or personal experience.
Use MathJax to format equations. MathJax reference.
To learn more, see our tips on writing great answers.
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
StackExchange.ready(
function () {
StackExchange.openid.initPostLogin('.new-post-login', 'https%3a%2f%2fmath.stackexchange.com%2fquestions%2f3135798%2fis-there-a-ternary-operator-in-math%23new-answer', 'question_page');
}
);
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Sign up or log in
StackExchange.ready(function () {
StackExchange.helpers.onClickDraftSave('#login-link');
});
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Sign up using Google
Sign up using Facebook
Sign up using Email and Password
Post as a guest
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
Required, but never shown
$begingroup$
It probably depends on the form of the conditions and the results, but the example you gave can be expressed with the unit step $u(x)$ (with an appropriate definition at $x=1$): $a = u(b+c) + 1$
$endgroup$
– Alex
48 mins ago
$begingroup$
@Alex $a = b + 2 - u(c)$
$endgroup$
– eyeballfrog
31 mins ago