pfaffian

The determinant of a skew-symmetric matrix, capable of being written as the square of a polynomial in the matrix entries.

If A is a skew symmetric matrix then det A is the square of a polynomial in the entries of A. This polynomial is known as the Pfaffian of A, and we denote it by Sym(pf A).

A member of a circle of artists that met at Pfaff's, a restaurant on Broadway.

Charles E. Hurd, assistant editor of the Boston Transcript, has published in the Commercial Bulletin an academic account of the literary Bohemia of New York at the time the Pfaffians flourished and Ada Clare, Whitman's friend, reigned as its queen.

While the publication became noted for its conservatism, the Pfaffians, inspired by the writings of Henri Murger and visits to Parisian bohemian quarters, avowedly dismissed the restraints of convention and pursued a freewheeling personal lifestyle.

Alternative letter-case form of Pfaffian.