A characteristic is a distinguishing feature of a person or thing. It may refer to:
Computing
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Characteristic (biased exponent)
In IEEE 754 Floating-point arithmetic, floating-point numbers, the exponent is biased in the biasing, engineering sense of the word – the value stored is offset from the actual value by the exponent bias, also called a biased exponent.
Biasing i ...
, an ambiguous term formerly used by some authors to specify some type of exponent of a floating point number
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Characteristic (significand), an ambiguous term formerly used by some authors to specify the significand of a floating point number
Science
*''I–V'' or
current–voltage characteristic, the current in a circuit as a function of the applied voltage
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Receiver operating characteristic
Mathematics
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Characteristic (algebra)
In mathematics, the characteristic of a ring , often denoted , is defined to be the smallest positive number of copies of the ring's multiplicative identity () that will sum to the additive identity (). If no such number exists, the ring is said ...
of a ring, the smallest common cycle length of the ring's addition operation
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Characteristic (logarithm), integer part of a common logarithm
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Characteristic function, usually the indicator function of a subset, though the term has other meanings in specific domains
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Characteristic polynomial
In linear algebra, the characteristic polynomial of a square matrix is a polynomial which is invariant under matrix similarity and has the eigenvalues as roots. It has the determinant and the trace of the matrix among its coefficients. The ...
, a polynomial associated with a square matrix in linear algebra
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Characteristic subgroup, a subgroup that is invariant under all automorphisms in group theory
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Characteristic value, another name for the eigenvalue of a matrix
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, another name for eigenvector of a matrix
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Characteristic word, a subclass of Sturmian word
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Euler characteristic
In mathematics, and more specifically in algebraic topology and polyhedral combinatorics, the Euler characteristic (or Euler number, or Euler–Poincaré characteristic) is a topological invariant, a number that describes a topological space's ...
, a topological invariant
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Method of characteristics, a technique for solving partial differential equations
Other uses
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Light characteristic, pattern of a lighted beacon
* Another name for
ability score in ''Dungeons & Dragons''
See also
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* ''
Characteristicks'', a 1711 philosophical treatise by Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury
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Property (philosophy)
In logic and philosophy (especially metaphysics), a property is a characteristic of an object; for example, a red object is said to have the property of redness. The property may be considered a form of object in its own right, able to possess ot ...
{{disambiguation