nonlinear

(Scientific computation) A property of a system whose output

is not proportional to its input. For example, a transistor

has a region of input voltages for which its output voltage is

found by multiplying the input voltage by the gain of the

transistor. Outside this region though, the transistor

behaves non-linearly, meaning that it does not obey this

simple equation. The behaviour of a system containing

non-linear components is thus harder to model and to predict.

[Jargon File]