Common Abbreviations and Misuses

Use

Do Not Use

µm

µ

nm

mµ

fm

F (F is for farad)

g

gm

A

amp

K

°K

sr

Sr, ster, str

u

amu

cm³

cc

deg

DEG, DEG., deg.

keV

KEV, KeV

MeV

Mev, MEV

MeV/nucleon

MeV/u, MeV/amu, MeV/A

µ_N

n.m.

c.m. (=center of mass)

CM

arb. units

a.u. (for atomic units)

Preferred Notations

Notation Example

Style Notes

nucleon number (mass number)

¹⁴N

left superscript

state of ionization

Ca⁺2

right superscript

excited state

¹¹⁰Ag^m, ¹⁴N^*

right superscript

number of atoms in a molecule

¹⁴N₂

right subscript

bombarding particles

n, p, d, t, h, and 𝛼

𝜏 not acceptable

other beam particles

⁶Li, ¹²C, ...

only the usual symbols

target nuclides

¹H, ²H, ³H, ³He, ⁴He ...

not D, T, …

differential cross section

σ(ϑ), σ(E,ϑ)

i.e., angle or energy shown as argument

derivative

d²σ/dΩ dE

d²σ by itself or dσ/dΩdE not acceptable

mathematical relationship

dM/dA, ds/dZ

e.g., semiempirical mass formula; not acceptable for data characterization since A and Z are not continuous