In mathematics, a multivalued function (shortly: multifunction, other names: many-valued function, set-valued function, set-valued map, multi-valued map, multimap, correspondence, carrier) is a left-total relation; that is, every input is associated with at least one output.
Strictly speaking, a "well-defined" function associates one, and only one, output to any particular input. The term "multivalued function" is, therefore, a misnomer because functions are single-valued. Multivalued functions often arise from functions which are not injective. Such functions do not have an inverse function, but they do have an inverse relation. The multivalued function corresponds to this inverse relation.
Read more about Multivalued Function: Examples, Set-valued Analysis, Types of Multivalued Functions, History, Applications
Famous quotes containing the word function:
“Uses are always much broader than functions, and usually far less contentious. The word function carries overtones of purpose and propriety, of concern with why something was developed rather than with how it has actually been found useful. The function of automobiles is to transport people and objects, but they are used for a variety of other purposes—as homes, offices, bedrooms, henhouses, jetties, breakwaters, even offensive weapons.”
—Frank Smith (b. 1928)