Table of logic symbols

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In logic, a set of symbols is commonly used to express logical representation. As logicians are familiar with these symbols, they are not explained each time they are used. So, for students of logic, the following table lists many common symbols together with their name, pronunciation and related field of mathematics. Additionally, the third column contains an informal definition, and the fourth column gives a short example.

Be aware that, outside of logic, different symbols have the same meaning, and the same symbol has, depending on the context, different meanings.

Note: This article contains special characters.

[edit] Basic logic symbols

Symbol
Name Explanation Examples Unicode
Value
HTML
Entity
LaTeX
symbol
Should be read as
Category




material implication AB means if A is true then B is also true; if A is false then nothing is said about B.

→ may mean the same as ⇒ (the symbol may also indicate the domain and codomain of a function; see table of mathematical symbols).

⊃ may mean the same as ⇒ (the symbol may also mean superset).
x = 2  ⇒  x2 = 4 is true, but x2 = 4   ⇒  x = 2 is in general false (since x could be −2). 8658

8594

8835
⇒
→
⊃
\Rightarrow\Rightarrow
\to\to
\supset\supset
implies; if .. then
propositional logic, Heyting algebra




material equivalence A ⇔ B means A is true if B is true and A is false if B is false. x + 5 = y +2  ⇔  x + 3 = y 8660

8801

8596
⇔
≡
↔
\Leftrightarrow\Leftrightarrow
\equiv\equiv
\leftrightarrow\leftrightarrow
if and only if; iff
propositional logic
¬

˜
logical negation The statement ¬A is true if and only if A is false.

A slash placed through another operator is the same as "¬" placed in front.
¬(¬A) ⇔ A
x ≠ y  ⇔  ¬(x =  y)
172

732
¬
˜
~
\lnot\lnot
\tilde{}\tilde{}
not
propositional logic




&
logical conjunction The statement AB is true if A and B are both true; else it is false. n < 4  ∧  n >2  ⇔  n = 3 when n is a natural number. 8743

38
&and;
&amp;
\land\land
\&[1]
and
propositional logic
logical disjunction The statement AB is true if A or B (or both) are true; if both are false, the statement is false. n ≥ 4  ∨  n ≤ 2  ⇔ n ≠ 3 when n is a natural number. 8744 &or; \lor\lor
or
propositional logic



exclusive disjunction The statement AB is true when either A or B, but not both, are true. A B means the same. A) ⊕ A is always true, AA is always false. 8853

8891
&oplus; \oplus\oplus
xor
propositional logic, Boolean algebra



T

1
Tautology The statement ⊤ is unconditionally true. A ⇒ ⊤ is always true. 8868 T \top\top
top
propositional logic, Boolean algebra



F

0
Contradiction The statement ⊥ is unconditionally false. ⊥ ⇒ A is always true. 8869 &perp;
F
\bot\bot
bottom
propositional logic, Boolean algebra
universal quantification ∀ x: P(x) means P(x) is true for all x. ∀ n ∈ N: n2 ≥ n. 8704 &forall; \forall\forall
for all; for any; for each
predicate logic
existential quantification ∃ x: P(x) means there is at least one x such that P(x) is true. ∃ n ∈ N: n is even. 8707 &exist; \exists\exists
there exists
first-order logic
∃!
uniqueness quantification ∃! x: P(x) means there is exactly one x such that P(x) is true. ∃! n ∈ N: n + 5 = 2n. 8707 33 &exist; ! \exists !\exists !
there exists exactly one
first-order logic
:=



:⇔
definition x := y or x ≡ y means x is defined to be another name for y (but note that ≡ can also mean other things, such as congruence).

P :⇔ Q means P is defined to be logically equivalent to Q.
cosh x := (1/2)(exp x + exp (−x))

A XOR B :⇔ (A ∨ B) ∧ ¬(A ∧ B)
58 61

8801

58 8660
 :=
: &equiv;
&hArr;
: = :=
\equiv\equiv
\Leftrightarrow\Leftrightarrow
is defined as
everywhere
( )
precedence grouping Perform the operations inside the parentheses first. (8/4)/2 = 2/2 = 1, but 8/(4/2) = 8/2 = 4. 40 41 ( ) (~) ( )
everywhere
inference x y means y is derived from x. AB ¬B → ¬A 8866 \vdash\vdash
infers or is derived from
propositional logic, first-order logic

[edit] Advanced and Rarely Used Logical symbols

These symbols are sorted by their Unicode value:

  • x00b7 ·: Center dot, an outdated way for denoting AND, for example "A·B" is the same as "A&B"
  • ·: Center dot with a line above it (using HTML style). Outdated way for denoting NAND, for example "A·B" is the same as "A NAND B" or "A|B" or "¬(A & B)" See also Unicode "Dot operator" x22c5
  • x0305 ̅ : overline, used as abbreviation for standard numerals. for example, using HTML style "4" is a shorthand for the standard numeral "SSSS0"
  • ̅ : overline, an outdated way for denoting negation, for example "AVB" is the same as "¬(AVB)"
  • ̅ : overline, a rarely used format for denoting Gödel numbers, for example "AVB" says the Gödel number of "(AVB)"
  • x2191 ↑ or 0x007c | : Sheffer stroke, the sign for the NAND operator.
  • x2201 ∁: complement
  • x2204 ∄: strike out existential quantifier same as "¬∃"
  • x2234 ∴: therefore
  • x2235 ∵: because
  • x22a7 ⊧: is a model of
  • x22a8 ⊨: is true of
  • x22ac ⊬: strike out turnstile, the sign for "does not prove", for example T⊬P says "P is not a theorem of T"
  • x22ad ⊭: is not true of
  • x22bc ⊼: Another NAND operator, can also be rendered as
  • x22bd ⊽: Another NOR operator, can also be rendered as V
  • x22c4 ◊: modal operator for "it is possible that", "it is not necessarily not" or rarely "it is not provable not" (in most modal logics it is defined as "¬◻¬")
  • x22c6 ⋆: Star operator, usually used for ad-hoc operators
  • x22a5 ⊥ or x2193 ↓ : Webb-operator or Peirce arrow, the sign for NOR, confusingly, "⊥"is also the sign for contradiction or absurdity.
  • x2310 ⌐  : reversed not sign
  • x231c⌜ x231d ⌝: corner quotes, also called "Quine quotes"; the standard symbol used for denoting Gödel number; for example "⌜G⌝" denotes the Gödel number of G. (Typographical note: although the quotes appears as a "pair" in unicode (231C and 231D), they are not symmetrical in some fonts. And in some fonts (for example Arial) they are only symmetrical in certain sizes. Alternatively the quotes can be rendered as ⌈⌉ and (unicode 2308 and 2309) or by using a negation symbol and a reversed negation symbol ⌐ ¬ in superscript mode. )
  • x25fb ◻ or x25a1 □: modal operator for "it is necessary that" (in modal logic), or "it is provable that" (in provability logic), or "it is obligatory that" (in Deontic logic), or "It is believed that" (in Doxastic logic). Typographical note: there are many different "box" signs in unicode, some are NOT rendered as a box in non-western fonts. When using the modal operator in Web pages, it is important to specify the font.

Note that the following operators are rarely supported by natively installed fonts. If you wish to use these in a web page, you should always embed the necessary fonts so the page viewer can see the web page without having the necessary fonts installed in their computer.

  • x27e1 ⟡:modal operator for never
  • x27e2 ⟢: modal operator for was never
  • x27e3 ⟣: modal operator for will never be
  • x27e4 ⟤: modal operator for was always
  • x27e5 ⟥: modal operator for will always be
  • x297d ⥽: right fishtail sign, sometimes used for "relation", also used for denoting various ad hoc relations (for example, for denoting "witnessing" in the context of Rosser's trick) See here for an image of glyph. Added to Unicode 3.2.0 .

[edit] See also

[edit] Special characters

Technical note: Due to technical limitations, some browsers may not display the special characters in this article. Some characters may be rendered as boxes, question marks, or other symbols, depending on your browser, operating system, and installed fonts. Even if you have ensured that your browser is interpreting the article as UTF-8 encoded and you have installed a font that supports a wide range of Unicode, such as Code2000, Arial Unicode MS, Lucida Sans Unicode or one of the free software Unicode fonts, you may still need to use a different browser, as browser capabilities vary in this regard.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Although this character is available in LaTeX, the Mediawiki TeX system doesn't support this character.

[edit] External links

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