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nonlinearmore about nonlinear

nonlinear


  3  definitions  found 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  nonlinear 
  adj  :  math;  not  directly  proportional  [ant:  {linear}] 
 
  From  Jargon  File  (4.2.3,  23  NOV  2000)  [jargon]: 
 
  nonlinear  adj  [scientific  computation]  1.  Behaving  in  an 
  erratic  and  unpredictable  fashion;  unstable.  When  used  to  describe 
  the  behavior  of  a  machine  or  program,  it  suggests  that  said  machine  or 
  program  is  being  forced  to  run  far  outside  of  design  specifications. 
  This  behavior  may  be  induced  by  unreasonable  inputs,  or  may  be  triggered 
  when  a  more  mundane  bug  sends  the  computation  far  off  from  its  expected 
  course.  2.  When  describing  the  behavior  of  a  person,  suggests  a  tantrum 
  or  a  {flame}.  "When  you  talk  to  Bob,  don't  mention  the  drug  problem  or 
  he'll  go  nonlinear  for  hours."  In  this  context,  `go  nonlinear'  connotes 
  `blow  up  out  of  proportion'  (proportion  connotes  linearity). 
 
 
 
  From  The  Free  On-line  Dictionary  of  Computing  (13  Mar  01)  [foldoc]: 
 
  nonlinear 
 
  (Scientific  computation)  A  property  of  a  system  whose  output 
  is  not  proportional  to  its  input.  For  example,  a  {transistor} 
  has  a  region  of  input  voltages  for  which  its  output  voltage  is 
  found  by  multiplying  the  input  voltage  by  the  gain  of  the 
  transistor.  Outside  this  region  though,  the  transistor 
  behaves  non-linearly,  meaning  that  it  does  not  obey  this 
  simple  equation.  The  behaviour  of  a  system  containing 
  non-linear  components  is  thus  harder  to  model  and  to  predict. 
 
  [{Jargon  File}] 
 
 




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