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In mathematics, an expression is well-defined if it is unambiguous and its objects are independent of their representative. More simply, it means that a mathematical statement is sensible and definite. In particular, a function is well-defined if it gives the same result when the form (the way in which it is presented) but not the value of an input is changed. The term well-defined is also used to indicate whether a logical statement is unambiguous, and a solution to a partial differential equation is said to be well-defined if it is continuous on the boundary.^[1]

Well-defined functions[edit]

In mathematics, a function is well-defined if it gives the same result when the form (the way in which it is presented) but not the value of an input is changed. For example, a function that is well-defined will take the same value when 0.5 is the input as it does when 1/2 is the input. An example of a "function" that is not well-defined is "f(x) = the first digit that appears in x". For this function, f(0.5) = 0 but f(1/2) = 1. A "function" such as this would not be considered a function at all, since a function must have exactly one output for a given input.

In group theory, the term well-defined is often used when dealing with cosets, where a function on a quotient group may be defined in terms of a coset representative. Then the output of the function must be independent of which coset representative is chosen. For example, consider the group of integers modulo 2. Since 4 and 6 are congruent modulo 2, a function defined on the integers modulo 2 must give the same output when the input is 6 that it gives when the input is 4.

A function that is not well-defined is not the same as a function that is undefined. For example, if f(x) = 1/x, the f(0) is undefined, but this has nothing to do with the question of whether f(x) = 1/x is well-defined. It is; 0 is simply not in the domain of the function.

Well-defined notation[edit]

For real numbers, the product $a\times b\times c$ is unambiguous because $(ab)c=a(bc)$ . ^[1] In this case this notation is said to be well-defined. However, if the operation (here $\times$ ) did not have this property, which is known as associativity, then there must be a convention for which two elements to multiply first. Otherwise, the product is not well-defined. The subtraction operation, $-$ , is not associative, for instance. However, the notation $a-b-c$ is well-defined under the convention that the $-$ operations are applied starting from the left and working right. Division is also non-associative. However, $a/b/c$ does not have an unambiguous conventional interpretation, so this expression is ill-defined.