OMEGA
Introduction
The term "Omega" (Greek: Ω, ω) is the 24th and last letter of the Greek alphabet. In the Greek numeric system, it has a value of 800. The word literally means "great O" (ō mega, mega meaning 'great'), as opposed to omicron, which means "little O" (o mikron, micron meaning 'little').
History
Omega was not part of the early (8th century BC) Epic alphabet. It was introduced in the late 7th century BC in the eastern Greek cities of Ionia to denote a long open-mid back rounded vowel, /ɔː/. It is a common belief that the sound represented by the letter omega in Modern Greek did not exist in the classical periods.
Use in Science and Mathematics
In the fields of physics and engineering, the omega letter is used as a symbol for angular frequency of a wave. In the field of computer science, omega is often used to denote the worst-case complexity of an algorithm. In mathematics, the letter is used to denote a variable in calculus, the last ordinal number in set theory, and the omega constant in number theory.
Use in Religion
In Christianity, the term "Alpha and Omega" comes from the phrase "I am the alpha and the omega" (Koiné Greek: "ἐγώ εἰμι τὸ Α καὶ τὸ Ω"), an appellation of Jesus in the Book of Revelation (verses 1:8, 21:6, and 22:13). In the context of biblical symbolism, the Alpha and Omega represent God being eternal, meaning God is the beginning and the end.
Use in Astronomy
In astronomy, Omega (uppercase Ω, lowercase ω) is used to denote a variety of concepts. For instance, the uppercase Omega is used as the symbol for the density parameter in cosmology, while the lowercase omega represents the argument of periapsis in orbit mechanics.
Use in Other Fields
Omega is also used in various other fields. For instance, in chemistry, it is used to represent the highest occupied molecular orbital. In genetics, it represents the fitness of a genotype. In statistics, it is used to denote the sample space of possible outcomes. In watchmaking, Omega is a well-known Swiss watch brand.