Hidden Variables

Hidden variables may refer to:

  • Hidden variable theories, in physics, the proposition that statistical models of physical systems (such as Quantum Mechanics) are inherently incomplete, and that the apparent randomness of a system depends not on collapsing wave functions, but rather due to unseen or unmeasurable (and thus "hidden") variables. In sharp contrast to the generally accepted Copenhagen Interpretation.
  • Latent variables, in statistics, variables that are inferred from other observed variables
  • Hidden transformation, in computer science, a way to transform a generic constraint satisfaction problem into a binary one by introducing new hidden variables
  • Confounding or hidden variables in general. That is, a variable that actually creates the illusion of a causal relation (e.g. firemen often appear after smoke, not because smoke causes firemen, but because fire causes both smoke and firemen)

Famous quotes containing the words hidden and/or variables:

    “Whatever events in progress shall disgust men with cities, and infuse into them the passion for country life, and country pleasures, will render a service to the whole face of this continent, and will further the most poetic of all the occupations of real life, the bringing out by art the native but hidden graces of the landscape.”
    —Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)

    “Science is feasible when the variables are few and can be enumerated; when their combinations are distinct and clear. We are tending toward the condition of science and aspiring to do it. The artist works out his own formulas; the interest of science lies in the art of making science.”
    —Paul Valéry (1871–1945)