Abstract nonsenseとは 意味・読み方・使い方

語源

Coined by Norman Steenrod, popularized by Serge Lang.

発音

名詞

abstract nonsense (uncountable)

1. (mathematics, humorous) Details which are straightforward but so tedious that an author or lecturer would rather skip them (especially those of a category theoretical nature).
2. (mathematics, humorous) Details which involve diagram chasing.
   • 2016, Emily Riehl, Category Theory in Context (Aurora: Dover modern math originals)‎, New York: Dover, →ISBN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 14 December 2019, page x:

     Lang’s Algebra [Lan02, p. 759] supports the general consensus that this was not intended as an epithet:
     In the forties and fifties (mostly in the works of Cartan, Eilenberg, MacLane, and Steenrod, see [CE56]), it was realized that there was a systematic way of developing certain relations of linear algebra, depending only on fairly general constructions which were mostly arrow-theoretic, and were affectionately called abstract nonsense by Steenrod.

3. (mathematics, humorous) Category theory in general.
4. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see abstract,‎ nonsense.

等位語

• (skipped details): handwave

参考

• diagram chasing

Further reading

• abstract nonsense on Wikipedia.Wikipedia