Mathematics
In set theory, the adjective antisymmetric usually refers to an antisymmetric relation.
The term "antisymmetric function" is sometimes used for odd function, although some meanings of antisymmetric are essentiality f(−y, −x) = −f(x, y). In operator notation the latter is called anticommutativity.
In linear algebra and theoretical physics, the adjective antisymmetric (or skew-symmetric) is used for matrices, tensors, and other objects that change sign if an appropriate operation (usually the exchange of two indices, which becomes the transposition of the matrix) is performed. See:
- antisymmetric matrix (a matrix A for which AT = −A)
- antisymmetric tensor
Read more about this topic: Antisymmetric
Famous quotes containing the word mathematics:
“Why does man freeze to death trying to reach the North Pole? Why does man drive himself to suffer the steam and heat of the Amazon? Why does he stagger his mind with the mathematics of the sky? Once the question mark has arisen in the human brain the answer must be found, if it takes a hundred years. A thousand years.”
—Walter Reisch (1903–1963)
“In mathematics he was greater
Than Tycho Brahe, or Erra Pater:
For he, by geometric scale,
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The clock doth strike, by algebra.”
—Samuel Butler (1612–1680)
“It is a monstrous thing to force a child to learn Latin or Greek or mathematics on the ground that they are an indispensable gymnastic for the mental powers. It would be monstrous even if it were true.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)