Correction factor
A correction factor is a variable that is introduced ad hoc into a formula , a mathematical model or a calculation, usually dimensionless, which is necessary to adjust the calculation to the expectations or observations. Important examples include a. Einstein's cosmological constant , or certain terms in the formulas for dark energy , dark matter or cosmological inflation .
Although important examples of such terms also appear in physics, the multitude of correction factors can be found in the less “exact” sciences, such as a. the engineering sciences , since frequently inhomogeneities and noise of real materials and conditions must be taken into account, which are herausidealisiert in physics often.
In the case of adaptations that are obviously mathematically and physically unmotivated, one occasionally speaks contemptuously of a botch factor .