Hidden Variable

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 variable:

    “Nobody knows what the cause is,
    Though some pretend they do;
    It’s like some hidden assassin
    Waiting to strike at you.
    Childless women get it,
    And men when they retire;
    It’s as if there had to be some outlet
    For their foiled creative fire.”
    —W.H. (Wystan Hugh)

    “Walked forth to ease my pain
    Along the shore of silver streaming Thames,
    Whose rutty bank, the which his river hems,
    Was painted all with variable flowers,”
    —Edmund Spenser (1552?–1599)