Hamiltonian

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noun (1)

Ham·​il·​to·​ni·​an ˌha-məl-ˈtō-nē-ən 

: a function that is used to describe a dynamic system (such as the motion of a particle) in terms of components of momentum and coordinates of space and time and that is equal to the total energy of the system when time is not explicitly part of the function compare lagrangian

Hamiltonianism

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noun (2)

Ham·​il·​to·​ni·​an·​ism ˌha-məl-ˈtō-nē-ə-ˌni-zəm 

: the political principles and ideas held by or associated with Alexander Hamilton that center around a belief in a strong central government, broad interpretation of the federal constitution, encouragement of an industrial and commercial economy, and a general distrust of the political capacity or wisdom of the common man

Hamiltonian

ˌha-məl-ˈtō-nē-ən 

adjective or noun

Examples of Hamiltonian in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

This control sequence, called a Hamiltonian, acts like Maxwell’s demon, flip-flopping a supposedly irreversible sequence of events forward to backward. — Stephanie Pappas, Scientific American, 21 Apr. 2026

But that wouldn’t have been enough to hire our homeless Hamiltonian. — Ryan Craig, Forbes.com, 6 Feb. 2026

For one thing, as temperatures drop, the new algorithm becomes slower and requires a larger sample size to effectively compute the Hamiltonian. — Quanta Magazine, 1 May 2024

The researchers took aim at the 10-particle SYK model, which has a Hamiltonian of 210 terms. — Charlie Wood, Quanta Magazine, 23 Mar. 2023

The Hamiltonian describes how the qubits change from one moment to the next. — Charlie Wood, Quanta Magazine, 23 Mar. 2023

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

Sir William Hamilton †1865 Irish mathematician

First Known Use

Noun (1)

1926, in the meaning defined above

Noun (2)

1901, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for Hamiltonian

• baconian
• devonian
• draconian
• estonian
• newtonian
• pannonian
• senonian
• amazonian
• babylonian
• parkinsonian