An indeterminate system is a system of simultaneous equations (especially linear equations) which has more than one solution. The system may be said to be underspecified. If the system is linear, then the presence of more than one solution implies that there are an infinite number of solutions, but that property does not extend to nonlinear systems.
An indeterminate system is consistent, the latter implying that there exists at least one solution. For a system of linear equations, the number of equations in an indeterminate system could be the same as the number of unknowns, less than the number of unknowns (an underdetermined system), or greater than the number of unknowns (an overdetermined system). Conversely, any of those three cases may or may not be indeterminate.
Read more about Indeterminate System: Examples, Conditions Giving Rise To Indeterminacy, Finding The Solution Set of An Indeterminate Linear System
Famous quotes containing the word system:
“I need not say what match I would touch, what system endeavor to blow up; but as I love my life, I would side with the light, and let the dark earth roll from under me, calling my mother and my brother to follow.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)