Calculus (disambiguation)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Calculus is Latin for pebble, and has a number of meanings in English:
[edit] Mathematical meanings
Calculus in its most general sense can mean any method or system of calculation.
- Calculus most commonly refers to elementary mathematical analysis, which investigates motion and rates of change. The denotation "the calculus" is sometimes used to distinguish this from other mathematical meanings.
- In symbolic logic:
- the propositional calculus specifies the rules of inference governing the logic of propositions.
- the predicate calculus specifies the rules of inference governing the logic of predicates.
- a proof calculus is a framework for expressing systems of logical inference.
- Lambda calculus, a formulation of the theory of reflexive functions with deep connections to computational theory; due in final form to Alonzo Church of Princeton University.
- Modal Mu Calculus, is a common temporal logic used by formal verification methods like model checking.
- Pi-calculus, a formulation of the theory of concurrent, communicating processes, invented by Robin Milner.
- Join calculus, a theoretical model for distributed programming.
- Tuple calculus, a calculus for the relational data model, inspired the SQL language.
- Domain relational calculus, a calculus for the relational data model.
- Rho calculus, introduced as a general means to uniformly integrate rewriting and lambda calculus.
- the calculus of sums and differences, also called the finite-difference calculus.
- Precalculus is a family of mathematical topics that prepare students to begin to study differential and integral calculus.
[edit] Other meanings
- Calculus (dental) consists of deposits of calcium phosphate salts on teeth, also known as tartar.
- Calculus (medicine) is a stone formed in the body such as a gall stone or kidney stone.
- In The Adventures of Tintin, Cuthbert Calculus is a hard-of-hearing professor and inventor and is a dear friend of Tintin, Captain Haddock, and others.
- Refinement Calculus is a way of refining models of programs into efficient programs.
- Calculus is a spider genus (Oonopidae).
