Loss of significance is an undesirable effect in calculations using floating-point arithmetic. It occurs when an operation on two numbers increases relative error substantially more than it increases absolute error, for example in subtracting two nearly equal numbers (known as catastrophic cancellation). The effect is that the number of accurate (significant) digits in the result is reduced unacceptably. Ways to avoid this effect are studied in numerical analysis.
Read more about Loss Of Significance: Demonstration of The Problem, Workarounds, Loss of Significant Bits, Instability of The Quadratic Equation, A Better Algorithm
Famous quotes containing the words loss of, loss and/or significance:
“Our ego ideal is precious to us because it repairs a loss of our earlier childhood, the loss of our image of self as perfect and whole, the loss of a major portion of our infantile, limitless, ain’t-I-wonderful narcissism which we had to give up in the face of compelling reality. Modified and reshaped into ethical goals and moral standards and a vision of what at our finest we might be, our dream of perfection lives on—our lost narcissism lives on—in our ego ideal.”
—Judith Viorst (20th century)
“Mothers risk alienating their mates if they expect them to hold or care for the baby exactly as they do. Fathers who are constantly criticized or corrected may lose interest in handling the baby, and this is a loss for everyone. The cycle is a dangerous one. Now the same mother feels bitter because she is no longer getting any help at home.”
—Cathy Rindner Tempelsman (20th century)
“The hysterical find too much significance in things. The depressed find too little.”
—Mason Cooley (b. 1927)