Potential Function

The term potential function may refer to:

  • A mathematical function whose values are a physical potential.
  • The class of functions known as harmonic functions, which are the topic of study in potential theory.
  • The potential function of a potential game.
  • A function used in the potential method of amortized analysis to describe an investment of resources by past operations that can be used by future operations.

Famous quotes containing the words potential and/or function:

    “The traditional American husband and father had the responsibilities—and the privileges—of playing the role of primary provider. Sharing that role is not easy. To yield exclusive access to the role is to surrender some of the potential for fulfilling the hero fantasy—a fantasy that appeals to us all. The loss is far from trivial.”
    —Faye J. Crosby (20th century)

    “The mother’s and father’s attitudes toward the child correspond to the child’s own needs.... Mother has the function of making him secure in life, father has the function of teaching him, guiding him to cope with those problems with which the particular society the child has been born into confronts him.”
    —Erich Fromm (1900–1980)