Abbreviations used in References
Book: For books, only the 2-digit publication year nn is given; The full four-digit year is written if it is earlier than 1900. If the level of the book is specified, I = general readership; II = undergraduate level; III = graduate/research level.
Article in
a collection:		 The generic abbreviation is "-in" [if I do not know the specific reference to the collection] or "in(nn)" , where nn is the publication year [if I do]. In specific types of collections of articles "in" in replaced by "proc" (conference proceedings), "conf" (contribution to conference, possibly without proceedings), "fs" (Festschrift), "ch" (chapter in a book).
Journal paper: XXX(nn), where XXX is an abbreviation for the journal name, and nn the publication year (four digits are used only for papers published before 1900).

arXiv paper:

[from March 2007 the format is just aYYMM]		 xx/nn, where xx is an abbreviation for the arXiv name, for example
     ap = astro-ph,   cd = chao-dyn,   cm = cond-mat,   gq = gr-qc,
     hl = hep-lat,   hp = hep-ph,   ht = hep-th,   he or hx = hep-ex,
     mp = math-phy,   nl = nlin,   phy = physics,   qp = quant-ph;
and nn the year the paper appeared.
When published, XXX(nn)xx/mm or in(nn)xx/mm (mm omitted if = nn)
Other
abbreviations:		 ...-GRF = Gravity Research Foundation paper.
...-in = paper written for a collection, e.g., proceedings;
...-ln = paper from lecture notes;
...-rp = report;
...-wd = withdrawn paper.

Abbreviations for Common Words and Expressions
(most instances have been expanded out, and most abbreviations are being phased out)
1-letter abbreviations for physical quantities:
B magnetic field m mass
E electric field, or energy p momentum, proton
e electron (or unit of electric charge) S action, or entropy
F force, or gauge field strength t time
L angular momentum T temperature
       
2-letter abbreviations:
bc boundary condition nc non-commutative
bh black hole ns neutron star
cc cosmological constant pi path integral
cr commutation relation PN Post-Newtonian
CS Chern-Simons (function/theory) ps phase space
cy century qc quantum cosmology
dg differential geometry qg quantum gravity
dS de Sitter space qm quantum mechanics
ep equivalence principle sd self-dual
ev expectation value sn supernova
ft field theory up uncertainty principle
gt gauge theory vf vector field
id identity wf wave function
ir infrared wh wormhole
KG Klein-Gordon (equation/theory) YM Yang-Mills (fields/theory)
       
3-letter abbreviations:
AdS Anti-de Sitter space lin linear
cft conformal field theory lqc loop quantum cosmology
cyl cylinder, cylindrical lqg loop quantum gravity
dof degree of freedom rep representation
gup generalized uncertainty principle rev review
Lag Lagrangian vev vacuum expectation value
       

Abbreviations: Symbols
 * Indicates a generic comment.
 $ Indicates a definition.
@ Indicates references.
& Indicates people who have worked on a subject, but with no specific reference.
 > Indicates links to other pages.

main page – abbreviations – journals – comments – other sites – acknowledgements
send feedback and suggestions to bombelli at olemiss.edu – modified 10 jan 2014