polynomial
1. <mathematics> An arithmetic expression composed by summing multiples
of powers of some variable.
P(x) = sum a_i x^i for i = 0 .. N
The multipliers, a_i, are known as "coefficients" and N, the highest power
of x with a non-zero coefficient, is known as the
"degree" of the polynomial. If N=0 then P(x) is
constant, if N=1, P(x) is linear in x. N=2 gives a
"quadratic" and N=3, a "cubic".
2. <complexity> polynomial-time.
Nearby terms:
polymorphic « polymorphic lambda-calculus «
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polynomial » polynomial-time » polynomial-time
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