Indeterminate

English

Pronunciation

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Adjective

1. Not accurately determined or determinable.
2. Imprecise or vague.
3. Template:Lb Not definitively or precisely determined, because of the presence of infinity or zero symbols used in any of several improper combinations.
4. Template:Lb With no genetically defined end, and thus theoretically limitless.
5. Template:Lb Not topped with some form of terminal bud.
6. Intersex.
7. Template:Lb Designed to allow the incorporation of future changes whose nature is not yet known.
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Synonyms

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Translations

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Noun

1. Template:Lb A symbol that resembles a variable or parameter but is used purely formally and neither signifies nor is ever assigned a particular value;
   Template:Lb a variable.
   • 1862, H. J. Stephen Smith, Report on the Theory of Numbers—Part III, Report of the 31st Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, Template:W, page 292,

     The form is linear, quadratic, cubic, biquadratic or quartic, quintic, &c., according to its order in respect of the indeterminates it contains; and binary, ternary, quaternary, &c., according to the number of its indeterminates. Thus $x^2+y^2$ is a binary quadratic form, $x^3+y^3+z^3-3xyz$ is a ternary cubic form.

   • 1892, Henry B. Fine, Kronecker and His Arithmetical Theory of the Algebraic Equation, Thomas S. Fiske, Harold Jacoby (editors), Bulletin of the New York Mathematical Society, Volume 1, Template:W, page 179,

     Such a factor is therefore an integral function of $x$ and the indeterminates $u_1,u_2,\dots u_n$ with coefficients belonging to the domain of rationality $(R^{\prime },R^{″},..)$ and may be represented by $g(x,u_1,u_2,..u_n)$.

   • 2006, Alexander B. Levin, Difference Algebra, M. Hazewinkel, Handbook of Algebra, page 251,

     Let $T=T_{\sigma }$ and let $S$ be the polynomial $R$-algebra in the set of indeterminates ${\left\{y_{i,\tau }\right\}}_{i\in I,\tau \in T}$ with indices from the set $I\times T$.

Usage notes

The distinction between indeterminate and variable when discussing, say, a polynomial, is often overlooked: an indeterminate is regarded as a type of variable. In fact, the distinction relates to the context: i.e., whether one is discussing a polynomial per se (a formal expression consisting of coefficients and indeterminates) or the function that the polynomial represents when the indeterminate is considered a variable. Moreover, some authors choose to use the terms indeterminate and variable interchangeably.

Translations

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See also

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Further reading

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Italian

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References

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