Singularity or singular point may refer to:

Science, technology, and mathematics

Mathematics

Mathematical singularity In mathematics, a singularity is a point at which a given mathematical object is not defined, or a point where the mathematical object ceases to be well-behaved in some particular way, such as by lacking differentiability or analyticity. For ex ...

, a point at which a given mathematical object is not defined or not "well-behaved", for example infinite or not differentiable

Geometry

Singular point of a curve In geometry, a singular point on a curve is one where the curve is not given by a smooth embedding of a parameter. The precise definition of a singular point depends on the type of curve being studied. Algebraic curves in the plane Algebraic cur ...

, where the curve is not given by a smooth embedding of a parameter *

Singular point of an algebraic variety In the mathematical field of algebraic geometry, a singular point of an algebraic variety is a point that is 'special' (so, singular), in the geometric sense that at this point the tangent space at the variety may not be regularly defined. In cas ...

, a point where an algebraic variety is not locally flat * Rational singularity

Complex analysis

Essential singularity In complex analysis, an essential singularity of a function is a "severe" singularity near which the function exhibits odd behavior. The category ''essential singularity'' is a "left-over" or default group of isolated singularities that a ...

, a singularity near which a function exhibits extreme behaviour * Isolated singularity, a mathematical singularity that has no other singularities close to it * Movable singularity, a concept in singularity theory *

Removable singularity In complex analysis, a removable singularity of a holomorphic function is a point at which the function is undefined, but it is possible to redefine the function at that point in such a way that the resulting function is regular in a neighbour ...

, a point at which a function is not defined but at which it can be so defined that it is continuous at the singularity

Natural sciences

Singularity (system theory) In the study of unstable systems, James Clerk Maxwell in 1873 was the first to use the term singularity in its most general sense: that in which it refers to ''contexts in which arbitrarily small changes, commonly unpredictably, may lead to arbitr ...

, in dynamical and social systems, a context in which a small change can cause a large effect *

Gravitational singularity A gravitational singularity, spacetime singularity or simply singularity is a condition in which gravity is so intense that spacetime itself breaks down catastrophically. As such, a singularity is by definition no longer part of the regular sp ...

, in general relativity, a point in which gravity is so intense that spacetime itself becomes ill defined **

Initial singularity The initial singularity is a singularity predicted by some models of the Big Bang theory to have existed before the Big Bang and thought to have contained all the energy and spacetime of the Universe. The instant immediately following the initi ...

, a hypothesized singularity of infinite density before quantum fluctuations caused the Big Bang and subsequent inflation that created the Universe * Penrose–Hawking singularity theorems, in general relativity theory, theorems about how gravitation produces singularities such as in black holes * Prandtl–Glauert singularity, the point at which a sudden drop in air pressure occurs *

Singularity (climate) A singularity is a weather phenomenon likely to occur with reasonable regularity around a specific approximate calendar date, Barry R.G. & Chorley R.J. (1987), ''Atmosphere, Weather & Climate'', 5th ed, Routledge, outside of more general seasonal ...

, a weather phenomenon associated with a specific calendar date *

Van Hove singularity A Van Hove singularity is a singularity (non-smooth point) in the density of states (DOS) of a crystalline solid. The wavevectors at which Van Hove singularities occur are often referred to as critical points of the Brillouin zone. For three-dimen ...

in the density of states of a material

Technology

Singularity (operating system) Singularity is an experimental operating system developed by Microsoft Research between July 9, 2003, and February 7, 2015. It was designed as a high dependability OS in which the kernel, device drivers, and application software were all writ ...

, an operating system developed by Microsoft Research written in managed code * Mechanical singularity, a position or configuration of a mechanism or a machine where the subsequent behavior cannot be predicted *

Singularity (software) Singularity is a free and open-source computer program that performs operating-system-level virtualization also known as containerization. One of the main uses of Singularity is to bring containers and reproducibility to scientific computing a ...

, a container technology that does not require root permissions to run

Futurology

Technological singularity The technological singularity—or simply the singularity—is a hypothetical future point in time at which technological growth becomes uncontrollable and irreversible, resulting in unforeseeable changes to human civilization. According to the m ...

, a hypothetical point in time at which the development of

artificial general intelligence Artificial general intelligence (AGI) is the ability of an intelligent agent to understand or learn any intellectual task that a human being can. It is a primary goal of some artificial intelligence research and a common topic in science fictio ...

will make human civilization obsolete

Arts and entertainment

Film and television

* "Singularity", a first-season episode of Disney's ''

So Weird ''So Weird'' is a television series that aired on the Disney Channel as a mid-season replacement from January 18, 1999, to September 28, 2001. The series was shot in Vancouver, British Columbia. In the first two seasons, the series centered on ...

'' * "Singularity" (''Star Trek: Enterprise''), a second-season episode of ''Star Trek: Enterprise'' * "The Singularity" (''Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.''), a third-season episode of ''Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.'' * "Singularity", a first-season episode of ''

Stargate SG-1 ''Stargate SG-1'' (often stylized in all caps, or abbreviated ''SG-1'') is a military science fiction adventure television series within Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's ''Stargate'' franchise. The show, created by Brad Wright and Jonathan Glassner, ...

'' * ''The Singularity'' (film), a 2012 documentary about the technological singularity * ''Singularity'' (2017 film), American science fiction film starring John Cusack * ''Singularity'', the working title for ''

The Lovers ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'', starring Josh Hartnett and Bipasha Basu * ''

Godzilla Singular Point is a Japanese anime television series co-produced by the animation studios Bones and Orange. Licensed by Netflix and directed by Atsushi Takahashi, the series premiered on March 25, 2021 on Netflix in Japan, and on Tokyo MX and other channel ...

'', a 2021 Japanese anime surrounding Godzilla

Literature

* ''Singularity'' (Sleator novel), a 1985 science-fiction novel by William Sleator * ''Singularity'' (DeSmedt novel), a 2004 novel by Bill DeSmedt * ''Singularity'' (audio drama), a 2005 ''Doctor Who'' audio drama * ''

Singularity 7 ''Singularity 7'' is a four-issue comic book mini-series created, written, and illustrated by Ben Templesmith. It was published by American company IDW Publishing in 2004. The series combines elements of science-fiction, cyberpunk, and horror ...

'', a graphic novel by Ben Templesmith * '' The Singularity Is Near'', a 2005 book by Ray Kurzweil on the technological singularity * Temporal singularity, or point of divergence, in speculative fiction

Music

Albums

* ''Singularity'' (Joe Morris album), 2001 * ''Singularity'' (Peter Hammill album), 2006 * ''Singularity'' (Mae album), 2007 * ''Singularity'' (Robby Krieger album), 2010 * ''Singularity'' (Northlane album), 2013 * ''Singularity'' (Jon Hopkins album), 2018 * ''Singularity'', a 2014 EP by Lemaitre * '' The Singularity (Phase I – Neohumanity)'', 2014 album by Swedish metal band Scar Symmetry

Songs

* "Singularity" (song), performed by V of the South Korean group BTS from their 2018 album ''Love Yourself: Tear'' * "Singularity", by Jon Hopkins on the 2018 album '' Singularity'' * "Singularity", by Caligula's Horse on the 2011 album '' Moments from Ephemeral City'' * "Singularity", by Textures on the 2011 album '' Dualism'' * "Singularity", by Born of Osiris on the 2011 album '' The Discovery'' * "Singularity", by Steve Aoki & Angger Dimas featuring My Name Is Kay from ''

It's the End of the World as We Know It "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)" is a song by American rock band R.E.M., which first appeared on their 1987 album, ''Document''. It was released as the album's second single in November 1987, reaching No. 69 in t ...

'', 2013 * "Singularity", by Tesseract on the 2013 album '' Altered State'' * "Singularity", by New Order on the 2015 album ''

Music Complete ''Music Complete'' is the tenth studio album by English rock band New Order. It was released on 25 September 2015 by Mute Records, their debut on the label. The album features guest vocals from Elly Jackson of La Roux, Iggy Pop and Brandon Flow ...

'' * "Singularity", by Devin Townsend on the 2019 album '' Empath'' * "The Singularity", by Doctor Steel on the 2002 album ''

People of Earth ''People of Earth'' is an American science fiction sitcom television series created by David Jenkins about a support group for alien abductees, as well as the aliens who had abducted them. TBS ordered the pilot under the name ''The Group'' in ...

People

*Singularity, stage name of Grey's Kyle Trewartha

Video games

* ''Singularity'' (video game), a 2010 video game developed by Raven Software * '' Endgame: Singularity'', a 2005 video game

Organizations

Singularity University Singularity Education Group (using the public names Singularity Group, Singularity University or SingularityU) is an American company that offers executive educational programs, a business incubator, and business consultancy services. Although ...

, a California Benefit Corporation part think-tank, part business incubator, based on

Ray Kurzweil Raymond Kurzweil ( ; born February 12, 1948) is an American computer scientist, author, inventor, and futurist. He is involved in fields such as optical character recognition (OCR), text-to-speech synthesis, speech recognition technology, and e ...

's theory of technological singularity *

Machine Intelligence Research Institute The Machine Intelligence Research Institute (MIRI), formerly the Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence (SIAI), is a non-profit research institute focused since 2005 on identifying and managing potential existential risks from artif ...

(MIRI), formerly "The Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence" (SIAI) **

Singularity Summit The Singularity Summit was the annual conference of the Machine Intelligence Research Institute. It was started in 2006 at Stanford University by Ray Kurzweil, Eliezer Yudkowsky, and Peter Thiel, and the subsequent summits in 2007, 2008, 2009, 201 ...

, its annual conference