Discrete modelling is the
discrete
Discrete may refer to:
*Discrete particle or quantum in physics, for example in quantum theory
* Discrete device, an electronic component with just one circuit element, either passive or active, other than an integrated circuit
* Discrete group, ...
analogue of
continuous modelling
Continuous modelling is the mathematical practice of applying a model
A model is an informative representation of an object, person, or system. The term originally denoted the plans of a building in late 16th-century English, and derived via ...
. In discrete modelling, formulae are fit to
discrete
Discrete may refer to:
*Discrete particle or quantum in physics, for example in quantum theory
* Discrete device, an electronic component with just one circuit element, either passive or active, other than an integrated circuit
* Discrete group, ...
data
Data ( , ) are a collection of discrete or continuous values that convey information, describing the quantity, quality, fact, statistics, other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of symbols that may be further interpreted for ...
—data that could potentially take on only a
countable
In mathematics, a Set (mathematics), set is countable if either it is finite set, finite or it can be made in one to one correspondence with the set of natural numbers. Equivalently, a set is ''countable'' if there exists an injective function fro ...
set of values, such as the
integer
An integer is the number zero (0), a positive natural number (1, 2, 3, ...), or the negation of a positive natural number (−1, −2, −3, ...). The negations or additive inverses of the positive natural numbers are referred to as negative in ...
s, and which are not infinitely divisible. A common method in this form of modelling is to use
recurrence relation
In mathematics, a recurrence relation is an equation according to which the nth term of a sequence of numbers is equal to some combination of the previous terms. Often, only k previous terms of the sequence appear in the equation, for a parameter ...
s.
Discrete time
In mathematical dynamics, discrete time and continuous time are two alternative frameworks within which variables that evolve over time are modeled.
Discrete time
Discrete time views values of variables as occurring at distinct, separate "poi ...
models are well-suited for step-by-step computer simulations and are often appropriate for modelling experimental data, which is typically collected in discrete form.
References
{{Mathapplied-stub
Applied mathematics