An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics

An expression of an integer nas the sum of one or more positive integers. The number of different partitions of n is denoted p(n). This function is called the partition function. For example, p(5) = 7, because 5 can be partitioned as: 5 = 5 = 4 + 1 = 3 + 2 = 3 + 1 + 1 = 2 + 2 + 1 = 2 + 1 + 1 + 1 = 1 + 1 + 1 + 1 + 1.

See also: → partition; → integer.