Asymptotic

The term asymptotic means approaching a value or curve arbitrarily closely (i.e., as some sort of limit is taken). A line or curve  that is asymptotic to given curve  is called the asymptote of .

Hardy and Wright (1979, p. 7) use the symbol  to denote that one quantity is asymptotic to another. If , then Hardy and Wright say that  and  are of the same order of magnitude.

REFERENCES:

Hardy, G. H. and Wright, E. M. An Introduction to the Theory of Numbers, 5th ed. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press, 1979.