Variable naming convention in mathematical modelingIs there a guide or source of inspiration I can use when picking variable and constant names for a mathematical formula? I'm in the process of converting a poorly written technical document into something cleaner, and I'm faced with garbage like this: H W P _ c u r x = C u t _ c u r × ∑ t = 0 r u ( y r _ c u r − s t a r t _ d a t e F r e q _ c u r x ) f ( D e c a y _ c u r x ; y r _ c u r − s t a r t _ d a t e x )I have a background in scientific computing, so I can appreciate an elegantly constructed formula, but I've always wondered how a good mathematician would choose variable names.

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Variable naming convention in mathematical modelingIs there a guide or source of inspiration I can use when picking variable and constant names for a mathematical formula? I&#039;m in the process of converting a poorly written technical document into something cleaner, and I&#039;m faced with garbage like this:  H  W  P  _  c  u      r    x    =  C  u  t  _  c  u  r  ×      ∑          t      =      0              r      u              (                              y            r            _            c            u            r            −            s            t            a            r            t            _            d            a            t            e                                F            r            e            q            _            c            u                          r              x                                      )              f  (  D  e  c  a  y  _  c  u      r    x    ;  y  r  _  c  u  r  −  s  t  a  r  t  _  d  a  t      e    x    )I have a background in scientific computing, so I can appreciate an elegantly constructed formula, but I&#039;ve always wondered how a good mathematician would choose variable names.

Marshall Flowers · Accepted Answer

Step 1If you&#039;re going to introduce single-letter variable names, it&#039;s important that (a) you only do it when it really will make the expression clearer, and (b) you provide full explanations for what your variables are? For example:Let                    τ                            =                  year                −                  start date                                    f                            =        f        r        e        q        u        e        n        c        y                            r                            =                  ...description of what ru is                                    T                            =                  r          τ                      /                    f                                    d                            =        d        e        c        a        y            then  H  W  P  =      c    u    t    ×      ∑          t      =      0              T        f  (  d  ;  τ  )Step 2Here I followed the common convention of using t-like variables (t, T,   τ) to represent times and f to represent a frequency. For the other variables I used the first letter of their names.Note that this equation doesn&#039;t really make sense - the dummy variable in the summation is t, but t doesn&#039;t appear anywhere in the summand. That should be fixed.

Variable naming convention in mathematical modeling. Is there a guide or source of inspiration I can use when picking variable and constant names for a mathematical formula?

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