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canonical (Definition)

A mathematical object is said to be canonical if it arises in a natural way without introducing any additional objects.

Examples

  1. Suppose $ A\times B$ is the Cartesian product of sets $ A,B$. Then $ A\times B$ has two canonical projections $ A\times B\to A$ and $ A\times B\to B$ defined in a natural way. Of course, if we assume more structure of $ A,B$ there are also other projections.
  2. canonical projection (in group theory)

Notes

For a discussion of the theological use of canonical, see [1].

Bibliography

1
Wikipedia, article on canonical.



"canonical" is owned by mathcam. [ owner history (1) ]
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Cross-references: theory, group, projections, structure, Cartesian product, object
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This is version 3 of canonical, born on 2004-10-16, modified 2004-10-17.
Object id is 6379, canonical name is Canonical.
Accessed 7834 times total.

Classification:
AMS MSC00A20 (General :: General and miscellaneous specific topics :: Dictionaries and other general reference works)

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Discussion
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"canonical" for linear maps by jac on 2004-10-17 03:37:53
A canonical linear map can be defined without choosing a basis.
Simple example, multiply every vector by some fixed scalar.
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