[Math] the difference between $\propto$ and $\sim$

definitionsoft-question

Suppose I have two physical quantities, lets name them $a$ and $b$.

I wonder what the difference exactly is between
$$a\propto b,\tag{1}$$
and
$$a \sim b.\tag{2}$$

I know for eq. 1, that it means $a=kb$. (See e.g. What does the sign $\propto$ mean?)

For eq. 2 I found Meaning of $\sim$? , but it is applied to functions, e.g.$ \lim_{x \rightarrow x_0} \frac{a(x)}{b(x)} = 1 $, but I am a bit confused on what it means in the context of plain physical quantities. Same order of magnitude? Does it imply a linear scaling as $\propto$?

Best Answer

  1. Like you said, $a \propto b$ means: a is proportional to b and so:

$a \propto b\Rightarrow a=k\cdot b$ for some $k \in \mathbb{R}$

  1. In contrast: $a \sim b$ means: a is distributed according to b and so:

$a \sim b \Rightarrow \lim_{x\rightarrow \infty} \dfrac{a(x)}{b(x)} = 1 $

So, $\sim$ indicates identical asymptotic behavior for arbitrary functions $a,b$. Maybe functions over time for your usecase? Note that although $a \propto b$ is a more general statement than $a \sim b$ since it holds for all values of $a$ and $b$, rather than only for the limit, it does not imply $a \sim b$.