| state [stāt] CONTROL SYSTEMS A minimum set of numbers which contain enough information about a system's history to enable its future behavior to be computed. PHYSICS The condition of a system which is specified as completely as possible by observations of a specified nature, for example, thermodynamic state, energy state. QUANTUM MECHANICS The condition in which a system exists; the state may be pure and describable by a wave function or mixed and describable by a density matrix. |