# A name for set of disjoint intervals

What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.

William Shakespeare

I'm looking for a short name for the phenomenon collection of disjoint intervals. I currently use selection, which I'm not very satisfied with, and I wonder if there is a better (more conventional) name out there.

• Is pairwise disjoint not good enough? – Cameron Williams Jul 18 '13 at 20:04
• Like "pairwise disjoint collection of intervals"? – Chiel ten Brinke Jul 18 '13 at 20:07
• No you just need to say "pairwise disjoint intervals." No need to throw in the word "collection." It's standard terminology for a family of sets that are mutually disjoint. – Cameron Williams Jul 18 '13 at 20:08
• But the OP is asking about a collection of intervals, not a list of them. – dfeuer Jul 18 '13 at 20:10
• @dfeuer I don't see the distinction. – Cameron Williams Jul 18 '13 at 20:30

Options:

• More formal: Pairwise disjoint set of intervals
• Less formal: set of disjoint intervals
• Less formal: disjoint set of intervals
• Write it as something like "Let $a,b,c$ be disjoint intervals."

Basically, there is no special terminology for what you want. To avoid confusion, just don't use one. If you're using the concept a lot in a paper, you're free to make up a word, or to name the set of all such sets.

• @amWhy Such complications. I think "set of pairwise disjoint intervals" is better use of language, but pairwise-disjointness is a property of the set, not of its elements. – dfeuer Jul 18 '13 at 20:30
• Okay, if you say so! ;-) – Namaste Jul 18 '13 at 20:31
• In real life, it doesn't matter :P – dfeuer Jul 18 '13 at 20:31
• @dfeuer You mean, real life and math are pairwise disjoint? – Hagen von Eitzen Jul 18 '13 at 20:37