perturbative

[ pur-ter-bey-tiv, per-tur-buh-tiv ]

adjective

1. having a tendency to perturb; disturbing.

Word History and Origins

Origin of perturbative¹

From the Late Latin word perturbātīvus, dating back to 1630–40. See perturbation, -ive

Example Sentences

One class, that of the so-called 'perturbative' phenomena, is relatively easy to detect, both in an experiment and in a mathematical computation.

From Science Daily

Mathematically, nonperturbative quantum effects are much more difficult to describe than their perturbative cousins.

From Science Daily

Weakly perturbative imaging of interfacial water with submolecular resolution by atomic force microscopy.

From Nature

“Completely? Not even in a perturbative framework? You really think it’s possible?”

From Scientific American

Edward Witten — For contributions to physics spanning topics such as new applications of topology to physics, non perturbative duality symmetries, models of particle physics derived from string theory, dark matter detection, and the twistor-string approach to particle scattering amplitudes, as well as numerous applications of quantum field theory to mathematics.

From Scientific American