Re: Comments on draft-v10-03a.

    Date: Wed, 30 Aug 1995 09:11:37 -0700
    From: ietf-lists@proper.com (Paul Hoffman)

    >Idempotent

    I second the request for a clear definition in the context of this spec.
    Another good reason for this: idempotent is not in any dictionary
    (including my Webster's unabridged) that I could find.

Try "The Harper Collins Dictionary of Mathematics," 1991:

"idempotent, adj. 1. (of a matrix, function or ring element) having the
property that it is equal to its own square. For example, the matrix

    -         -
    |  2   2  |
    | -1  -1  |
    -         -

is idempotent.  2. (of an operation) having the property that every
element of its domain is idempotent with respect to it; for example,
set-theoretic intersection and union are idempotent, since S union S =
S = S intersection S.  A RING of which every member is idempotent is
called a BOOLEAN RING."

Clear enough?

Regards,
Glenn Adams

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