The following abbreviations (and acronyms) may be used without explanation. Any other should be defined when first introduced in manuscript.
alternating-current – ac
altitude – alt
anno Domini – A.D.
ante meridiem – a.m.
antilogarithm – antilog
aperture ratio 16 – f/16
approximate (in subscript) – approx
arccosecant – arccsc
arccosine – arccos
arccotangent – arccot
arcsecant – arcsec
arcsine – arcsin
arctangent – arctan
argument – erg
audio-frequency – af
average (in subscript) – av
Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer – BCS
body-centered-cubic – bcc
boiling point – bp
Boltzmannis constant – k,kB
calculated (in subscript) – calc
center of mass – c.m.
centimeter-gram-second (system) – cgs
chapter – Chap.
chemically pure – cp
coefficient (in subscript) – coeff
cologarithm – colog
Company – Co.
complex conjugate – c.c.
confer (compare) – cf.
confidence limits – C.L.
constant – const
contact potential difference – cpd
continuous-wave – cw
Corporation – Corp.
cosecant – csc
cosine – cos
cotangent – cot
cubic – cu
curl – Vx
deoxyribose nucleic acid – DNA
determinant – det
deviation – dev
diameter – diam
direct-current – dc
District of Columbia – D.C.
divergence – div
east – E
edition – ed.
elastic (in subscript) – el
electromotive force – emf
electron paramagnetic resonance – EPR
electron spin resonance – ESR
equation – Eq.
equations – Eqs.
error function – erf
error function (complement of) – erfc
estimated standard deviation – e.s.d.
et alii (and others) – et al.
exempli gratia(for example) – e.g.
experiment(al) (in subscript) – expt
exponential – e,exp
face-centered-cubic – fcc
figure – Fig.
figures – Figs.
frequency-modulation – FM
gradient – grad
gram-atom – g-at.
gram-atomic-weight – g.at. wt
Hermitian conjugate – H.c.
hexagonal-close-packed – hcp
high-frequency – hf
hyperbolic cosecant – csch
hyperbolic cosine – cosh
hyperbolic cotangent – coth
hyperbolic secant – sech
hyperbolic sine – sinh
hyperbolic tangent – tanh
hyperSne structure – hfs
ibidem (in the same place) – ibid.
id est (that is) – i.e.
imaginary part – Im
Incorporated – Inc.
inelastic (in subscript) – inel
infrared – ir
inside diameter – i.d.
intermediate frequency – if
International Critical Tables – ICT
laboratory (in subscript) – lab
latitude – lat
limit – lim
linear combination of atomic orbitals – LCAO
logarithm – log
logarithm (natural, base e) – ln
longitudinal-acoustic – LA
longitudinal-optic – LO
magnetomotive force – mmf
maximum – max
melting point – mp
meter-kilogram-second (system) – mks
minimum – min
molecular orbital – MO
north – N
nota bene (mark well) – N.B.
not determined – N.D.
nuclear magnetic resonance – NMR
number – No.
observed (in subscript) – obs
of order less than – o ( )
of the order of – O( )
outside diameter – o.d.
page – p.
pages – pp.
Part – Pt.
post meridiem – p.m.
potential differecce – PD
probable error – pe
quantum chromodynamies – QCD
quantum eleetrodynamies – QED
quad erat demonstrandum (which was to be demonstrated) – Q.E.D.
radio-frequency – rf
random-phase approximation – RPA
real part – Re
reference – Ref. references – Refs.
ribonueleic acid – RNA
room temperature – RT
root-mean-square – rms
secant – sec
section – Sec.
sections – Secs.
Series – Ser.
signum function – sgn
sine – sin
south – S
square – sq
standard temperature and pressure – STP
Supplement – Suppl.
Systeme International – SI
tangent – tan
theory, theoretical (in subscript) – theor
total (in subscript) – tot
trace – tr,Tr
transverse-acoustic – TA
transverse-electric – TE
transverse-electromagnetic – TEM
transverse-magnetic – TM
transverse-optic – TO
ultrahigh-frequency – uhf
ultraviolet – uv
valence band – VB
versus – vs
videlicet (that is to say, namely) – viz.
Volume – Vol.
Wentzel-Kramers-Brillouin – WKB
west – W