Infinity symbol Infinity symbol The infinity symbol (sometimes called the lemniscate) is a mathematical symbol representing the concept of infinity. The shape of a sideways figure eight has a long pedigree; for instance, it appears in the cross of Saint Boniface, wrapped around the bars of a Latin cross. However, John Wallis is credited with introducing the infinity symbol with its mathematical meaning in 1655, in his "De sectionibus conicis". Wallis did not explain his choice of this symbol, but it has been conjectured to be a variant form of a Roman numeral for 1,000 (originally CIƆ, also CƆ), which was sometimes
Infinity the one-point compactification of the real numbers, which is the real projective line. Projective geometry also refers to a line at infinity in plane geometry, a plane at infinity in three-dimensional space, and a hyperplane at infinity for general dimensions, each consisting of points at infinity. In complex analysis the symbol formula_1, called "infinity", denotes an unsigned infinite limit. formula_5 means that the magnitude formula_22 of "x" grows beyond any assigned value. A point labeled formula_1 can be added to the complex plane as a topological space giving the one-point compactification of the complex plane. When this is done, the