AI engineering glossary · Linear algebra
What is scalar?
Scalar: A single number, as opposed to a list or grid of numbers. Scalars are the ordinary quantities you multiply vectors and matrices by to stretch or shrink them, and they are also the results of operations such as a dot product or a loss calculation.
Scalar: an example
A learning rate of 0.01 is a scalar: multiplying a gradient vector by it shrinks every component of the vector by the same factor.
Related terms
More Linear algebra terms
- Scalar multiplication
- Singular matrix
- Singular value
- Singular value decomposition
- Span
- Sparse matrix
- Sparse vector
- Spectral norm
Where you learn it
Scalar is part of the AI Engineering Program, which teaches it with notes, a hands-on lab and an exam. The first lesson is free.