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Computer arithmetic

type of arithmetic that uses computer representation of numbers

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Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionDec 21, 2025
Entity authorityQ11897510
Source-derived summary

Computer arithmetic is the scientific field that deals with representation of numbers on computers and corresponding implementations of the arithmetic operations.

It includes:

Fixed-size arithmetic

"Integer arithmetic", which in practice is modular arithmetic by a power of 2.

Fixed-point arithmetic

Modular arithmetic

Multi-modular arithmetic

p-adic arithmetic, consisting of computing modulo a single prime number and retrieving the integer or rational result by using Hensel lifting

Finite field arithmetic

Floating-point arithmetic

Arbitrary-precision arithmetic

Interval arithmetic

Symmetric level-index arithmetic

Matrix arithmetic

In the cases where the size of the representation of a number is fixed (fixed-point, floating-point and interval arithmetic), the main concern is to control the computational error, as far as possible; see, for example IEEE 754.

In the other cases, where an exact result should be provided, the main concern is the practical efficiency, which is optimized by combining improvements of computational complexity with hardware specificities.

ARITH Symposium on Computer Arithmetic is an international symposium devoted to computer arithmetic.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Computer arithmetic” as type of arithmetic that uses computer representation of numbers. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Computer, arithmetic and type.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current 159-word lead offers orientation but no explicit four-digit date, so chronology should not be assumed. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Computer, arithmetic and type providing the first useful test.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Dec 21, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q11897510. The Library of Congress control number is sh85029480. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference.

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This entry incorporates text from Computer arithmetic” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.