# Meaning of asterisk and meaning of a filled square **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 19, 2016, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-asterisk-and-meaning-of-a-filled-square/743555 "2016-01-19T05:15:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MaverocK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@MaverocK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaverocK)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-asterisk-and-meaning-of-a-filled-square/743555/1 "2016-01-19T05:15:26Z")
While I was looking through a textbook (the name of the book and the author is indicated below), I came across the following symbols which I could not understand. [![](https://i.imgur.com/Lbdh0b9.png) ](https://i.imgur.com/Lbdh0b9.png) Source: Introductory Notes in Discrete Mathematics by Marcel B. Finan I indicated the symbols with a red circle and an ellipse. The asterisk normally means multiplication. But it is used in a different sense in the solution. Also, what is the meaning of the black-filled square? I guess that it signifies the end of solution. What do you think? ---
**Author:** ![Ignotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecc23a/32.png) [@Ignotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignotus)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-asterisk-and-meaning-of-a-filled-square/743555/2 "2016-01-19T05:26:36Z")
**Z** \* seems to mean **Z** \ {0}. The square, I don’t know. Maybe QED? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-asterisk-and-meaning-of-a-filled-square/743555/3 "2016-01-19T05:27:33Z")
Here you go: > **[Asterisk -- from Wolfram MathWorld](https://mathworld.wolfram.com/Asterisk.html)** > > The asterisk \*, also called a "star," is used for a number of different purposed in mathematics. The most common usage is to denote multiplication so, for example, 2\*3=2×3=6. When used as a superscript, the asterisk is commonly voiced "a-star." A... As for the Square - it’s Q.E.D. ---
**Author:** ![MaverocK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@MaverocK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaverocK)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-asterisk-and-meaning-of-a-filled-square/743555/4 "2016-01-19T05:59:50Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Here you go: > [Asterisk -- from Wolfram MathWorld](http://mathworld.wolfram.com/Asterisk.html) > > As for the Square - it’s Q.E.D. I examined this page. According to this page, asterisk could mean three things: 1. multiplication 2. adjoint 3. complex conjugate None of the above concepts seems related to the context of the solution in the image file. So, what could it be? What do you think? ---
**Author:** ![Cabbage](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f07891/32.png) [@Cabbage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cabbage)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-asterisk-and-meaning-of-a-filled-square/743555/5 "2016-01-19T09:41:20Z")
> [@MaverocK](#): > > I examined this page. According to this page, asterisk could mean three things: > > 1. multiplication > 2. adjoint > 3. complex conjugate > > None of the above concepts seems related to the context of the solution in the image file. So, what could it be? What do you think? It absolutely means the non-zero integers, just like **Ignotus** said. (which needs to be pointed out since you can’t divide by zero). There are more uses for an asterisk than those listed in the mathworld page. ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-asterisk-and-meaning-of-a-filled-square/743555/6 "2016-01-19T11:25:46Z")
> [@Cabbage](#): > > There are more uses for an asterisk than those listed in the mathworld page. In fact, it is unlikely that there will ever be a “master list of ways one can use an asterisk in a mathematical proof” that is comprehensive. Proofs and textbooks define new notations that are convenient in the context all of the time. Typically, a notation like (X)\* means “something like (X), but different in some way”. Does the text book have a page at the front or back listing the meaning of these notations (in the context of the book)? That is very common for text books. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-asterisk-and-meaning-of-a-filled-square/743555/7 "2016-01-19T13:42:32Z")
All mathematical symbols (including pi) are multiply used. In that context it has to mean non-zero integers, but in different contexts it will mean something else. For example, if V is a vector space, V\* denotes the dual space. The solid block is used standardly as an end of proof marker, although most styles would put it at the right hand margin. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-asterisk-and-meaning-of-a-filled-square/743555/8 "2016-01-19T14:44:53Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > As for the Square - it’s Q.E.D. To elaborate: it’s a symbol placed at the end of a proof to mean “And that completes the proof of the theorem.” Some books/publications/authors use a filled-in square for this purpose, some use an open square, some use the letters [Q.E.D.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q.E.D.), some use words like “This completes the proof” or “…and thus the theorem is proved,” and some don’t use any indication at all. > [@leahcim](#): > > Typically, a notation like (X)\* means “something like (X), but different in some way”. > > Does the text book have a page at the front or back listing the meaning of these notations (in the context of the book)? That is very common for text books. Yes, and you might have to look for Z\* rather than just \* on that list of symbols. FWIW, Z\* would be pronounced “Z-star.” ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-asterisk-and-meaning-of-a-filled-square/743555/9 "2016-01-19T14:59:51Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Some books/publications/authors use a filled-in square for this purpose, some use an open square, some use the letters [Q.E.D.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q.E.D.), some use words like “This completes the proof” or “…and thus the theorem is proved,” and some don’t use any indication at all. If I was editor of a mathematical journal, required style would be to end proofs with “_mic drop_”. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-asterisk-and-meaning-of-a-filled-square/743555/10 "2016-01-19T20:29:49Z")
When I see “\_" I think it’s the closure of the set under some operator. But in the example given, I don’t see what "Z_” would be used for, instead of just “Z”. (And what operator the closure is based on isn’t knowable without seeing more of the text.) ---
**Author:** ![Lance\_Turbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lance_turbo/32/6156_2.png) [@Lance\_Turbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lance_Turbo)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-asterisk-and-meaning-of-a-filled-square/743555/11 "2016-01-19T21:45:12Z")
[The Set of Non-Zero Integers](http://proofwiki.org/wiki/Symbols:Z#The_Set_of_Non-Zero_Integers) It’s fairly standard in my experience, but that page show Z\* as ‘deprecated’. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-asterisk-and-meaning-of-a-filled-square/743555/12 "2016-01-20T03:38:34Z")
> [@Lance\_Turbo](#): > > [The Set of Non-Zero Integers](http://proofwiki.org/wiki/Symbols:Z#The_Set_of_Non-Zero_Integers) > > It’s fairly standard in my experience, but that page show Z\* as ‘deprecated’. What it indicates to be standard (ℤ[sub]≠0[/sub]) seems inherently clearer and a lot more versatile if you change the subscript. I could see the old one falling out of use just for the practicality of the new one. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-asterisk-and-meaning-of-a-filled-square/743555/13 "2016-01-20T17:10:52Z")
> [@leahcim](#): > > If I was editor of a mathematical journal, required style would be to end proofs with “_mic drop_”. [Obligatory] Were you an editor of a mathematical journal and can’t remember? Otherwise your post should read “If I were an editor…” Which means–again, unless you are mentioning for some reason unknown to us you may have been an editor (which would be irrelevant, frankly)–you have made a mistake. WE HAVE RULES! LOTS OF RULES! AND WHEN ANYONE BREAKS 'EM–WHEE-O! WACCO! BONG! DOINK! [/Obligatory] ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-asterisk-and-meaning-of-a-filled-square/743555/14 "2016-01-20T20:37:11Z")
So the proof notes that _q_ is a non-zero int in order for the following division to be valid. Got it. (How often does one have to explicitly make it clear that a number isn’t zero before using it as a divisor in a proof? Crucial in programming, but in proofs?) ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-asterisk-and-meaning-of-a-filled-square/743555/15 "2016-01-20T20:58:43Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > So the proof notes that _q_ is a non-zero int in order for the following division to be valid. Got it. > > (How often does one have to explicitly make it clear that a number isn’t zero before using it as a divisor in a proof? Crucial in programming, but in proofs?) It all depends on the level. In an elementary text, you can’t do it too often. In an advanced one, you would just assume the reader will fill in the argument. The idea that Z\* is deprecated is absurd. People can deprecate away; they will be ignored. I am actually a technical editor of a free online journal and we use an open square to end proofs. But it is moved to the end of the last line. There is no standard notation in mathematics, ever. Even pi and e are regularly used fr whatever, just so long as you don’t need those real constants. And \* is used all over the place. There is even a concept I know a bit about called \*-autonomous categories. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-asterisk-and-meaning-of-a-filled-square/743555/16 "2016-01-20T20:59:42Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > So the proof notes that _q_ is a non-zero int in order for the following division to be valid. Got it. > > (How often does one have to explicitly make it clear that a number isn’t zero before using it as a divisor in a proof? Crucial in programming, but in proofs?) In general, proofs are sorta like programming. You want to make sure there aren’t any holes or unwarranted assumptions so that your proof doesn’t crash. In this particular example, q being a non-zero int is part of what is being proven. That is, it’s a proof that a + b is a rational number (an element of **Q** ), which means by definition that it can be written as p/q where p is an integer (an element of **Z** ) and q is a non-zero integer (an element of **Z** \*). ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-asterisk-and-meaning-of-a-filled-square/743555/17 "2016-01-20T22:54:27Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > [Obligatory] > > Were you an editor of a mathematical journal and can’t remember? Otherwise your post should read “If I were an editor…” Which means–again, unless you are mentioning for some reason unknown to us you may have been an editor (which would be irrelevant, frankly)–you have made a mistake. > > WE HAVE RULES! LOTS OF RULES! AND WHEN ANYONE BREAKS 'EM–WHEE-O! WACCO! BONG! DOINK! > > [/Obligatory] The “if I was” construction for hypotheticals is also usual in UK English, as far as I know. Looks like **leahcim** is likely American, given her or his location, but it’s not a rule that holds across varieties of English (and the distinction seems to be falling out of use slowly in American English, too.) ---
**Author:** ![sbunny8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@sbunny8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sbunny8)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-asterisk-and-meaning-of-a-filled-square/743555/18 "2016-01-21T06:19:46Z")
FWIW, Wolfram MathWorld, has a page specifically for Z\* (read “zee star”). They say it excludes the negatives but keeps 0. That seems to be the exact opposite of what the OP is talking about. > **[Z^\* -- from Wolfram MathWorld](https://mathworld.wolfram.com/Z-Star.html)** > > The nonnegative integers 0, 1, 2, .... ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-asterisk-and-meaning-of-a-filled-square/743555/19 "2016-01-21T06:34:49Z")
Because nobody’s mentioned it: The filled square is the [Halmos tombstone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tombstone_%28typography%29), or just the halmos, named after Paul Halmos, who popularized it. (He got the idea of using it from seeing it was being used to indicate the end of articles in magazines.) -30- ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meaning-of-asterisk-and-meaning-of-a-filled-square/743555/20 "2016-01-21T14:19:24Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > Because nobody’s mentioned it: The filled square is the [Halmos tombstone](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tombstone_%28typography%29), or just the halmos, named after Paul Halmos, who popularized it. (He got the idea of using it from seeing it was being used to indicate the end of articles in magazines.) > > -30- I see what you did there. 🙂