Polynomial

In mathematics, a polynomial is an expression of finite length constructed from variables (also called indeterminates) and constants, using only the operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and non-negative integer exponents. However, the division by a constant is allowed, because the multiplicative inverse of a non zero constant is also a constant. For example, x2 − x/4 + 7 is a polynomial, but x2 − 4/x + 7x3/2 is not, because its second term involves division by the variable x (4/x), and also because its third term contains an exponent that is not a non-negative integer (3/2). The term "polynomial" can also be used as an adjective, for quantities that can be expressed as a polynomial of some parameter, as in polynomial time, which is used in computational complexity theory.