Modern Arabic mathematical notation


Modern Arabic mathematical notation is a mathematical notation based on the Arabic script, used especially at pre-university levels of education. Its form is mostly derived from Western notation, but has some notable features that set it apart from its Western counterpart. The most remarkable of those features is the fact that it is written from right to left following the normal direction of the Arabic script. Other differences include the replacement of the Latin alphabet letters for symbols with Arabic letters and the use of Arabic names for functions and relations.

Features

Notation differs slightly from region to another. In tertiary education, most regions use the Western notation. The notation mainly differs in numeral system used, and in mathematical symbol used.

Numeral systems

There are three numeral systems used in right to left mathematical notation.
Written numerals are arranged with their lowest-value digit to the right, with higher value positions added to the left. That is identical to the arrangement used by Western texts using Hindu-Arabic numerals even though Arabic script is read from right to left. The symbols "٫" and "٬" may be used as the decimal mark and the thousands separator respectively when writing with Eastern Arabic numerals, e.g. 3.14159265358, 1,000,000,000. Negative signs are written to the left of magnitudes, e.g. −3. In-line fractions are written with the numerator and denominator on the left and right of the fraction slash respectively, e.g. 2/7.

Mirrored Latin symbols

Sometimes, symbols used in Arabic mathematical notation differ according to the region:
Sometimes, mirrored Latin symbols are used in Arabic mathematical notation :
maǧmūʿ means "sum" in Arabic language.
However, in Iran, usually Latin symbols are used.

Examples

Mathematical letters">List of letters used in mathematics and science">Mathematical letters

[Mathematical constants] and units">Units of measurement">units

Sets">Set (mathematics)">Sets and [number systems]

[Arithmetic] and [algebra]

Trigonometric and hyperbolic functions

[Trigonometric functions]

[Hyperbolic functions]

The letter is added to the end of trigonometric functions to express hyperbolic functions. This is similar to the way is added to the end of trigonometric functions in Latin-based notation.

[Inverse trigonometric functions]

For inverse trigonometric functions, the superscript in Arabic notation is similar in usage to the superscript in Latin-based notation.

[Inverse hyperbolic functions]

[Calculus]

Complex analysis">Complex numbers">Complex analysis