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:

    “Look
    There he is now, look:
    There is no interrogation in his eyes
    Or in the hands, quiet over the horse’s neck,
    And the eyes watchful, waiting, perceiving indifferent.
    O hidden under the dover’s wing, hidden in the turtle’s breast....”
    —T.S. (Thomas Stearns)

    “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)