Complement (mathematics)
|
|
The word complement (with an e in the second syllable, not to be confused with a different word, compliment with an i) has a number of uses. Generally a complement of X is something that together with X makes a complete whole; that supplies what X lacks. The first e in complete and the first e in complement are etymological cognates of each other in a way that is a useful mnemonic for remembering that this is not compliment with an i.
For various uses of this word in fields other than mathematics, see complement, a disambiguation page.
In mathematics, the word complement has a variety of uses. See:
- Complement (set theory)
- Complement graph
- Complementary event
- Knot complement
- Orthogonal complement
- Schur complement
- An operation that transforms an integer into its additive inverse, useful for subtracting numbers when only addition is possible, or is easiest.
- Relatively complemented lattice
- Method of complements
- Two's complement is often used in computer microprocessors which perform calculations using the binary numeral system.
- One's complement
- Complementary angles
- Complement operator (regular expressions)
- See Boolean algebra for an account of complements in that field.