leanprover-community / leanprover-community/physlib

Incorrect symbol `𝓢` used in documentation of

Open Beginner friendly
#1,542 0 comments 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

Nobody has claimed this yet.

good first issue help-wanted
Dominant language
Lean
Stars
750
Forks
191
Avg merge
1d 21h
Merged PRs (30d)
75

Description

⚠️ Found by a local LLM, not a human. This was flagged by an automated documentation-mistake finder (qwen3:14b) and passed 10/10 independent verification runs before filing, but it has not been reviewed by a person. Please check it's a genuine error before acting on it.


Summary

The documentation in Physlib/QFT/PerturbationTheory/WickAlgebra/WicksTheorem.lean (around line 59) is incorrect.

Current text
1. `timeOrder_eq_maxTimeField_mul_finset` is used to write
  `𝓣(φ₀…φₙ)` as `𝓢(φᵢ,φ₀…φᵢ₋₁) • φᵢ * 𝓣(φ₀…φᵢ₋₁φᵢ₊₁φₙ)` where `φᵢ` is
  the maximal time field in `φ₀…φₙ`
Why this is wrong

The documentation for the lemma timeOrder_eq_maxTimeField_mul_finset claims that 𝓣(φ₀…φₙ) is expressed using a term involving 𝓢(φᵢ, φ₀…φᵢ₋₁). This is incorrect because 𝓢 is not defined in the file and does not correspond to any standard notation in quantum field theory. In the context of time-ordered products, the correct symbol is 𝓣, which represents time-ordering.

The lemma's purpose is to decompose a time-ordered product into a term involving the maximal-time field and another time-ordered product. Using 𝓢 instead of 𝓣 introduces confusion and misrepresents the mathematical content. The correction replaces 𝓢 with 𝓣, aligning the documentation with both standard notation and the lemma's intended meaning.

The file uses 𝓣 consistently elsewhere for time-ordering, confirming that 𝓢 was a typographical error in this specific documentation. This change ensures clarity and correctness for users relying on the formalization.

Suggested correction
1. `timeOrder_eq_maxTimeField_mul_finset` is used to write
  `𝓣(φ₀…φₙ)` as `𝓣(φᵢ,φ₀…φᵢ₋₁) • φᵢ * 𝓣(φ₀…φᵢ₋₁φᵢ₊₁φₙ)` where `φᵢ` is
  the maximal time field in `φ₀…φₙ`

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Open Physlib/QFT/PerturbationTheory/WickAlgebra/WicksTheorem.lean around lines 59–61 and read the documentation for timeOrder_eq_maxTimeField_mul_finset. Verify the notation used elsewhere in the file, then replace the incorrect symbol in this sentence and confirm the documentation matches the lemma's intended time-ordering expression.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Domain
documentation
Issue type
Documentation
Difficulty
1/5
Estimated time
Under an hour
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Clearly specified
Newbie friendliness
90/100

Get new issues in your inbox

A short digest of beginner-friendly GitHub issues.