The replacement of a nonlinear function by a linear approximation is known as linearisation. The motivation for linearisation is to allow analysis of a nonlinear problem by linear techniques. The results of such analysis need to be interpreted with care to ensure that the linearising approximation does not cause unacceptably large errors.

Inspec keywords: nonlinear functions; nonlinear control systems; approximation theory; linearisation techniques

Other keywords: nonlinear function; nonlinear control theory; nonlinear problem; linear approximation; linearisation; linear techniques

Subjects: Interpolation and function approximation (numerical analysis); Nonlinear control systems