Definition:Inverse Sine/Real/Arcsine

Definition
From Shape of Sine Function, we have that $\sin x$ is continuous and strictly increasing on the interval $\closedint {-\dfrac \pi 2} {\dfrac \pi 2}$.

From Sine of Half-Integer Multiple of Pi:
 * $\sin \paren {-\dfrac {\pi} 2} = -1$

and:
 * $\sin \dfrac {\pi} 2 = 1$

Therefore, let $g: \closedint {-\dfrac \pi 2} {\dfrac \pi 2} \to \closedint {-1} 1$ be the restriction of $\sin x$ to $\closedint {-\dfrac \pi 2} {\dfrac \pi 2}$.

Thus from Inverse of Strictly Monotone Function, $g \paren x$ admits an inverse function, which will be continuous and strictly increasing on $\closedint {-1} 1$.

This function is called arcsine of $x$ and is written $\arcsin x$.

Thus:
 * The domain of $\arcsin x$ is $\closedint {-1} 1$
 * The image of $\arcsin x$ is $\closedint {-\dfrac \pi 2} {\dfrac \pi 2}$.

Also denoted as
In computer software packages, the notation $\operatorname {asin}$ or $\operatorname {asn}$ can sometimes be found.

Caution
There exists the a popular but misleading notation $\sin^{-1} x$, which is supposed to denote the inverse sine function.

However, note that as $\sin x$ is not an injection (even though by restriction of the codomain it can be considered surjective), it does not have an inverse.

The $\arcsin$ function as defined here has a well-specified image which (to a certain extent) is arbitrarily chosen for convenience.

Therefore it is preferred to the notation $\sin^{-1} x$, which (as pointed out) can be confusing and misleading.

Sometimes, $\operatorname {Sin}^{-1}$ (with a capital $\text {S}$) is taken to mean the same as $\arcsin$, although this can also be confusing due to the visual similarity between that and the lowercase $\text {s}$.

Also see

 * Definition:Sine

Other inverse trigonometrical ratios

 * Definition:Arccosine
 * Definition:Arctangent
 * Definition:Arccotangent
 * Definition:Arcsecant
 * Definition:Arccosecant