scalar

3 definitions found

scalar - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Scalar \Sca"lar\, n. (Math.)
     In the quaternion analysis, a quantity that has magnitude,
     but not direction; -- distinguished from a vector, which has
     both magnitude and direction.
     [1913 Webster]

scalar - WordNet (r) 2.1 (2005) :

  scalar
      adj 1: of or relating to a musical scale; "he played some basic
             scalar patterns on his guitar"
      2: of or relating to a directionless magnitude (such as mass or
         speed etc.) that is completely specified by its magnitude;
         "scalar quantity"
      n 1: a variable quantity that cannot be resolved into components

scalar - Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (26 May 2007) :

  scalar
  
     1. <mathematics> A single number, as opposed to a vector or
     matrix of numbers.  Thus, for example, "scalar
     multiplication" refers to the operation of multiplying one
     number (one scalar) by another and is used to contrast this
     with "matrix multiplication" etc.
  
     2. <architecture> In a parallel processor or vector processor
     , the "scalar processor" handles all the sequential
     operations - those which cannot be parallelised or vectorised.
  
     See also superscalar.
  
     3. <programming> Any data type that stores a single value
     (e.g. a number or Boolean), as opposed to an aggregate
     data type that has many elements.  A string is regarded as a
     scalar in some languages (e.g. Perl) and a vector of
     characters in others (e.g. C).
  
     (2002-06-12)