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Floor function

From Encyclopedia of Mathematics
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entier function, greatest integer function, integral part function

The function of a real variable that assigns to a real number the largest integer \leq x. The modern notation is \lfloor x\rfloor; the classical notation is [x]. In computer science and computer languages it is often denoted by \operatorname{int}(x).

The related ceiling function \lceil x\rceil gives the smallest integer \geq x. The fractional part function is defined as

\operatorname{frac}(x)=\begin{cases}x-\lfloor x\rfloor&\text{for }x\geq0,\\x-\lfloor x\rfloor-1&\text{for }x<0.\end{cases}

The nearest integer function is

\operatorname{nint}(x)=\operatorname{round}(x)=x-\operatorname{frac}(x).

References

[a1] R.L. Graham, D.E. Knuth, O. Patashnik, "Concrete mathematics: a foundation for computer science" , Addison-Wesley (1990)
[a2] S. Wolfram, "Mathematica: Version 3" , Addison-Wesley (1996) pp. 718–719
How to Cite This Entry:
Floor function. Encyclopedia of Mathematics. URL: http://encyclopediaofmath.org/index.php?title=Floor_function&oldid=33154
This article was adapted from an original article by M. Hazewinkel (originator), which appeared in Encyclopedia of Mathematics - ISBN 1402006098. See original article