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In mathematics, a structure on a set (or on some sets) refers to providing it (or them) with certain additional features (e.g. an operation, relation, metric, or topology). Τhe additional features are attached or related to the set (or to the sets), so as to provide it (or them) with some additional meaning or significance.
A formal system is an abstract structure and formalization of an axiomatic system used for deducing, using rules of inference, theorems from axioms by a set of inference rules. [1] [non-tertiary source needed] [2] In 1921, David Hilbert proposed to use formal systems as the foundation of knowledge in mathematics. [3]
A structure on a set, or more generally a type, consists of additional mathematical objects that in some manner attach (or are related) to the set, making it easier to visualize or work with, or endowing the collection with meaning or significance.
There are many areas of mathematics, which include number theory (the study of numbers), algebra (the study of formulas and related structures), geometry (the study of shapes and spaces that contain them), analysis (the study of continuous changes), and set theory (presently used as a foundation for all mathematics).
Functional analysis is a branch of mathematical analysis, the core of which is formed by the study of vector spaces endowed with some kind of limit-related structure (e.g. inner product, norm, topology, etc.) and the linear operators acting upon these spaces and respecting these structures in a suitable sense.
In mathematics, a piecewise linear manifold (PL manifold) is a topological manifold together with a piecewise linear structure on it. Such a structure can be defined by means of an atlas, such that one can pass from chart to chart in it by piecewise linear functions. This is slightly stronger than the topological notion of a triangulation.
Representation theory studies how algebraic structures "act" on objects. A simple example is the way a polygon is transformed by its symmetries under reflections and rotations, which are all linear transformations about the center of the polygon.
The domain of a structure is an arbitrary set; it is also called the underlying set of the structure, its carrier (especially in universal algebra), its universe (especially in model theory, cf. universe), or its domain of discourse. In classical first-order logic, the definition of a structure prohibits the empty domain. [citation needed] [5]