Is the symbol ! used in mathematical writing to express something absurd

notation

I remember that the exclamation mark ( ! ) was used while writing math to express a contradiction or reduction to absurd or something like that. But it seems that I do not remember well because doing some research I could not find this use. Just the well known:

  • Factorial (Number Theory)
  • Negation (Logic)
  • Uniqueness of existence in conjuction with the symbol $\exists$ (Set Theory)

I have a "false memory" or something like that? or indeed the symbol is !! ?

What is used to write that a statement is absurd/contradicition?

Best Answer

To refer to contradiction sometimes the symbol $$\Rightarrow\Leftarrow$$ however usually the word contradiction itself is used. But there is no symbol in mathematics for something absurd.

As you have rightly noted ! is used for factorial, negation and set theory. There you have it. If you want some more you might want to check out wikipedia.

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