ORTHANT Meaning and
Definition
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Orthant is a mathematical term used in linear programming and optimization to describe a certain region or region boundary in multi-dimensional space. More specifically, in n-dimensional space, an orthant refers to a subset of the space defined by the signs of its coordinates.
An orthant is characterized by the signs of its coordinates, wherein each coordinate can either be positive, negative, or zero. For instance, in a two-dimensional space, there are four orthants: the first orthant consists of points where both coordinates are positive; the second orthant comprises points with a positive first coordinate and a negative second coordinate; the third orthant includes points with negative first coordinate and a positive second coordinate; and finally, the fourth orthant consists of points with both coordinates being negative.
In a three-dimensional space, there are eight orthants, each representing a different combination of positive, negative, and zero coordinates. It is also important to note that the origin, i.e., the point where all coordinates are zero, does not belong to any orthant.
Orthants provide a useful tool in optimization problems as they can assist in defining constraints or boundaries for the search space. Furthermore, the concept of orthants enables the classification and partitioning of the space into distinct regions, thereby facilitating the analysis and computation of the problem at hand.
Etymology of ORTHANT
The word "orthant" is derived from the combination of "orth", meaning "straight" or "right", and "ant", which is a suffix denoting something that is opposite or contrasted with something else. In mathematics, an orthant refers to a region of space defined by having all positive or all negative coordinates. The term was first introduced in the context of optimization theory and mathematical programming in the 1960s.
