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differential equation
A description of how something continuously changes over time. Some differential equations have an exact analytical solution such that all future states can be known without simulating the time evolution of the system. However, most have a numerical solution with only limited accuracy.
A differential equation involves the first or higher derivatives of the function to be solved for. If the equation only involves first derivatives it is known as an equation of order one, and so on. If only n-th powers of the derivatives are involved, the equation is said to have degree n. Equations of degree one are called linear. Equations in only one variable are called ordinary differential equations to distinguish them from partial differential equations, which have two or more.
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