Mathematical object

A mathematical object is an abstract object arising in mathematics. The concept is studied in philosophy of mathematics.

In mathematical practice, an object is anything that has been (or could be) formally defined, and with which one may do deductive reasoning and mathematical proofs. Commonly encountered mathematical objects include numbers, permutations, partitions, matrices, sets, functions, and relations. Geometry as a branch of mathematics has such objects as hexagons, points, lines, triangles, circles, spheres, polyhedra, topological spaces and manifolds. Another branch—algebra—has groups, rings, fields, group-theoretic lattices, and order-theoretic lattices. Categories are simultaneously homes to mathematical objects and mathematical objects in their own right. In proof theory, proofs and theorems are also mathematical objects.