# Is there a standard maximality operator? [closed]

Is there a standard symbol for the maximization operator, much like μ for minimization?

-

## closed as not a real question by Lord_Farin, MJD, Julian Kuelshammer, Amzoti, Chris GodsilJun 8 '13 at 14:29

It's difficult to tell what is being asked here. This question is ambiguous, vague, incomplete, overly broad, or rhetorical and cannot be reasonably answered in its current form. For help clarifying this question so that it can be reopened, visit the help center.If this question can be reworded to fit the rules in the help center, please edit the question.

What do you mean by maximization operator? –  Levon Haykazyan Feb 22 '12 at 20:38
Like in en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%9C_operator , except searching for the greatest natural number with a given property. –  Sam Long Feb 23 '12 at 20:49
How do you imagine computing that number? I believe that won't be computable. –  Levon Haykazyan Feb 23 '12 at 21:38
Oh, sorry, I forgot to say I'm thinking about bounded search. –  Sam Long Feb 23 '12 at 22:12
@MJD: Please consider converting your comment (and perhaps others') into an answer, so that this question gets removed from the unanswered tab. If you do so, it is helpful to post it to this chat room to make people aware of it (and attract some upvotes). For further reading upon the issue of too many unanswered questions, see here, here or here. –  Lord_Farin Jun 8 '13 at 13:36

What he means here, I think, is that if $\mu x.\Phi(x)$ denotes the minimal $x$ for which $\Phi(x)$ holds, then $\max x.\Phi(x)$ would denote the maximal such $x$.
I'm not really sure this is pertinent to the question, but type theorists often use $μx.P(x)$ for the minimal type $x$ satisfying $P(x)$, or for the minimal fixed point of some equations, and in this context they sometimes use $\nu$ analogously for the maximal fixed point or the maximal solution.