eigenvalue

/ˈaɪɡənˌvæljuː/
noun
  1. A special number that describes how a mathematical object, like a matrix, stretches or shrinks a vector (a quantity with direction) when the object is applied to it.
    • The engineer used eigenvalues to analyze the stability of the electrical circuit.
    • Finding the eigenvalues of a matrix helps solve many problems in computer graphics and data science.
    • In physics class, we learned that the eigenvalue of a matrix tells you how much a vector is scaled.
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