pure mathematics - the branches of mathematics that study and develop the principles of mathematics for their own sake rather than for their immediate usefulnessmath, mathematics, maths - a science (or group of related sciences) dealing with the logic of quantity and shape and arrangement arithmetic - the branch of pure mathematics dealing with the theory of numerical calculations geometry - the pure mathematics of points and lines and curves and surfaces algebra - the mathematics of generalized arithmetical operations set theory - the branch of pure mathematics that deals with the nature and relations of sets group theory - the branch of mathematics dealing with groups analysis situs, topology - the branch of pure mathematics that deals only with the properties of a figure X that hold for every figure into which X can be transformed with a one-to-one correspondence that is continuous in both directions |